The president of Madagascar will have left the country on Sunday, October 12, aboard a French military plane, following an agreement with Emmanuel Macron, RFI reported this Monday. Andry Rajoelina found himself increasingly isolated after losing the support of an important army unit that joined thousands of young people who have been protesting for weeks, demanding his resignation.
The information about Rajoelina’s escape was confirmed to Reuters by an opposition leader, although her fate was not yet known. “The president left the country, we called the presidential team and they confirmed that he left the country” on Sunday, said Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko. To RFI, the French authorities said that they are not intervening in the internal crisis in their former colony that has lasted for weeks.
Rajoelina was supposed to head to the country on the evening of Monday, October 13th, according to information provided by the presidency, but her whereabouts were not clear before her departure from Madagascar became known.
On Sunday, the Malagasy presidency had said that a coup d’état was underway in the country, after, the day before, losing the support of CAPSAT, an elite military unit that helped Rajoelina come to power in a coup in 2009 and that has now decided to join the Generation Z protesters.
The protests, led by a movement online led by youth and known as Gen Z Mada, they began on September 25 due to a lack of water and energy, but grew into accusations of corruption and bad governance, accompanied by demands for Rajoelina’s resignation. This youth movement is inspired by recent similar protests in countries such as Morocco, Nepal and Kenya, all wearing t-shirts and flags with a skull and a straw hat. manga Japanese One Piece.
In the first few days, Rajoelina tried, unsuccessfully, to calm the protests with the resignation of Prime Minister Christian Ntsay, having then appointed a military man as head of government, a measure contested by the protesters. Yesterday, the Mauritian government announced that Ntsay and Maminiaina Ravatomanga, a businessman close to Rajoelina, flew to the country “urgently” on Sunday morning, denying, however, any interference in Madagascar’s affairs.
Already last week, Generation Z Mada declined an invitation to speak to the president, who promised to resign if the country’s power cuts are not resolved within a year.
At the same time, opposition members in the National Assembly of Madagascar will begin impeachment proceedings against Andry Rajoelina for “abandonment of his post”, Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko told Reuters this Monday.