from MARIO RAJOMAZANDRY in Antananarivo, Madagascar
Madagascar Bureau
ANTANANARIVO, (CAJ News) – THE rebellion by a section of the military, a subsequent split in the army, and reports President Andry Rajoelina has fled, have exposed Madagascar to a military coup.
This is a country on the precipice.
Whether Rajoelina (51) has fled or is staying put and clinging on to the hope that his faction in the military will prevail, his position has become untenable.
This after weeks of anti-government protests, led by the youth under the Gen Z banner, over the deteriorating supplies of water and electricity.
Rajoelina’s last documented official engagements have been with some university students who he assures the government is addressing youths’ grievances.
Ongoing skirmishes in the Indian Ocean largest island country are reminiscent, and ironic, of the 2009 coup that brought Rajoelina to power, initially.
Rajoelina’s inauguration was shortly before his 35th birthday.
It is a case of what goes around comes around.
The fallout in Madagascar is yet another crisis to a continent already searing under the burden of upheaval by youth perturbed by waning economic opportunities and angered by lack of provision of basic necessities.
There was confusion this past weekend over the whereabouts of Rajoelina, amid reports he had fled the country, or taken refuge in the French Embassy in Madagascar, or he was safely somewhere in an unnamed location north of the country.
The ongoing protests that have exposed Madagascar to a military takeover has torn the military into two.
An elite unit is maintaining solidarity with the public and defying government’s orders to quell the protests, Another faction is eager to defend Rajoelina.
Battle lines are drawn.
On Sunday, speaking from an undisclosed location, Rajoelina, announced that an “illegal and forcible seizure of power” was underway.
At the time of publishing this report, there had not been a full military takeover but the situation was tense as the divisions between the military escalated.
Rajoelina was speaking in response to a statement by soldiers that have defied his government’s orders to open fire on protesters.
“The country is destroyed, the lives of the population are in disarray because nothing works due to water and electricity cuts,” the rebellious soldiers stated in a note that has gone rival.
“We, the military, no longer do our job; we are merely bootlickers. We have been following irrational orders,” the statement adds.
“Let us come together — soldiers, police, gendarmes — and refuse to be bought to shoot at our brothers, our sisters and the children of the people.”
Protests began in September and Rajoelina dissolved the government but that has failed to pacify the protesters.
The current situation is reminiscent of the military coup in 2009 when Rajoelina emerged as president of the High Transitional Authority after the mutiny by the army ousted then president, Marc Ravalomanana.
He would later be elected, most recently in 2023 in an exercise the opposition boycotted.
The ongoing crisis in Madagascar has raised concern in the continent and the international community.
Rajoelina, by virtue of his presidency, in August assumed the rotating chairmanship of the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The last time SADC experienced a coup was in 2017 when longtime Zimbabwean leader, Robert Mugabe (now deceased), was overthrown.
Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chairperson of the African Union Commission, is said to be “following with deep concern” the political and security developments in Madagascar.
“The chairperson reaffirms the solidarity of the African Union with the people and Government of Madagascar in these difficult times, and expresses the readiness of the continental organization to support national and regional efforts aimed at a rapid return to institutional normalcy, stability, and the consolidation of peace,” Youssouf’s spokesperson said.
The Chinese Embassy in Madagascar recommended that its citizens postpone their travel to the island nation in the near future.
It reminded Chinese citizens and institutions in Madagascar to strengthen safety precautions, avoid going out as much as possible, stay away from political rallies, demonstrations as well as refrain from taking photos or videos in crowded areas.
Patrick Lynch, the United Kingdom ambassador, stated, “We advise against all but essential travel to Madagascar.”
The United Nations Human Rights Commission recently condemned the violent response by security forces to the protests.
“I am shocked and saddened by the killings and injuries in the protests over water and power cuts in Madagascar,” Volker Türk, Commissioner for Human Rights, said.
– CAJ News