A Madagascar army colonel says the military has taken charge of the African island nation after its parliament voted to impeach President Andry Rajoelina.
Colonel Michael Randrianirina’s announcement in front of the ceremonial presidential palace in the capital, Antananarivo, on Tuesday came almost immediately after parliament voted to impeach Rajoelina, who fled the country after soldiers joined mass antigovernment protests.
“We have taken the power,” Randrianirina said, adding that the military was dissolving all institutions except the lower house of parliament.
Randrianirina said the military would form a council composed of officers from the military and the gendarmerie law enforcement force. A prime minister would be appointed to “quickly” form a civilian government, he said.
He also said the constitution and the powers of the High Constitutional Court have been suspended. He said a referendum would be held in two years although the details of that were not immediately clear.
Rajoelina had been facing growing calls to resign throughout weeks of youth-led antigovernment protests. A turning point in the protests came on Saturday when an elite military unit joined the demonstrators and turned against Rajoelina. That prompted Rajoelina to say there was an attempt to seize power, and he went into hiding.
President in hiding
Rajoelina, a former mayor of Antananarivo, said in a speech broadcast on social media on Monday night that he had left the country in fear for his life and was sheltering in a “safe space”.
A military source told the Reuters news agency that Rajoelina left the country on Sunday on board a French army aircraft although President Emmanuel Macron refused to confirm that his government had played a role.
Hours after Rajoelina spoke of “an attempt to seize power illegally and by force”, the army’s elite CAPSAT unit, which played a key role in the 2009 coup that first brought Rajoelina to power, said it had taken control of the military.
Credit: aljazeera.com
