Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina has been toppled in a military coup and gone into hiding following three weeks of political unrest and youth-led protests.
President Rajoelina attempted to dissolve Madagascar’s National Assembly after the Parliament voted on Tuesday to impeach him, even as the island nation’s embattled leader declared the process unconstitutional and vowed to stay in power.
Rajoelina fled the island, off the Southern coast of Africa, on a French military plane, after an elite army unit, known as CAPSAT, defected from the army and government and joined the Gen Z-led protesters demonstrating against inequality and corruption in the country of 29 million people.
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Gen Z anger is fueling the protests
Protests began late last month in the country’s capital, Antananarivo, calling for the removal of Rajoelina, who gained power in a 2009 coup d’état. They were notably driven by Gen Z protesters.
One 21-year-old, Angie Rakoto, told the crowd from May 13 Square of Rajoelina, “He has to quit. Immediately,” according to Reuters. The square, which hosted protests for weeks, is named after the 1972 Malagasy Revolution, which was a youth-led uprising that forced out the country’s first post-independence president.
The protests were initially sparked by widespread power outages and water shortages throughout the Indian Ocean island, but eventually grew into wider discontent with the country’s leadership, service failures, alleged corruption, and political nepotism.
“We acknowledge and apologise if members of the government have not carried out the tasks assigned to them,” Rajoelina said in a state broadcast on September 29, in which he directly addressed the frustration of young people. “I understand the anger, the sadness, and the difficulties caused by power cuts and water supply…
