Madagascar President to make speech after troopers turned towards authorities in obvious coup

Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina was because of make a speech on nationwide tv on Monday (October 13, 2025) after an elite army unit turned towards the federal government in an obvious coup within the Indian Ocean nation and referred to as for Rajoelina to step down.

Mr. Rajoelina’s workplace mentioned that his speech could be broadcast on state tv and radio at 7 p.m. native time (1600 GMT), however did not say if the President was nonetheless in Madagascar amid studies he had fled following weeks of lethal anti-government protests.

Those protests, which have been initially led by youth teams, reached a turning level on Saturday when troopers from the elite CAPSAT army unit accompanied demonstrators to a sq. within the capital, Antananarivo, and referred to as for Rajoelina and several other authorities ministers to depart workplace.

The unit, which helped Mr. Rajoelina first come to energy as transitional chief in a military-backed coup in 2009, mentioned that it had taken cost of all of the armed forces in Madagascar.

Mr. Rajoelina’s workplace mentioned on Sunday that “an try to seize energy illegally and by drive” was underway within the nation of 31 million off the east coast of Africa. Rajoelina’s present whereabouts are unknown, and a spokesperson for the President did not reply to cellphone calls and messages.

Mr. Rajoelina hasn’t recognized who was behind the tried coup, however the CAPSAT army unit gave the impression to be able of authority and on Sunday appointed a basic as the brand new head of Madagascar’s armed forces, which was accepted by the Minister of Defence.

A commander of CAPSAT, Col. Michael Randrianirina, mentioned that his troopers had exchanged gunfire with safety forces who have been making an attempt to quell weekend protests, and one in all his troopers was killed. But there was no main preventing on the streets, and troopers using on armoured autos and waving Madagascar flags have been cheered by folks in Antananarivo.

Mr. Randrianirina mentioned that the military had “responded to the folks’s calls,” however denied there was a coup. Speaking on the nation’s army headquarters on Sunday, he instructed reporters that it was as much as the Madagascan folks to resolve what occurs subsequent, and if Mr. Rajoelina leaves energy and a brand new election is held.

Gen Z protest in Madagascar

The U.S. Embassy in Madagascar suggested American residents to shelter in place due to a “extremely unstable and unpredictable” scenario. The African Union urged all events, “each civilian and army, to train calm and restraint.” Madagascar has been shaken by three weeks of essentially the most vital unrest in years. The protests erupted on Sept. 25 over water and electrical energy outages and have been led by a bunch calling itself “Gen Z Madagascar.” The United Nations says the demonstrations left at the least 22 folks useless and dozens injured. The authorities has disputed this quantity.

The demonstrations snowballed into bigger dissatisfaction with the federal government and the management of Rajoelina, and protesters have introduced up a variety of points, together with poverty and the price of dwelling, entry to tertiary training, and alleged corruption and embezzlement of public funds by authorities officers, their households and associates.

Civic teams and commerce unions have additionally joined the protests, which resulted in nighttime curfews being enforced in Antananarivo and different main cities. Curfews have been nonetheless in impact in Antananarivo and the northern port metropolis of Antsiranana.

The Gen Z protesters who impressed the rebellion have mobilised over the web and say they have been impressed by different protests that toppled governments in Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Madagascar has had a number of leaders eliminated in coups and has a historical past of political crises because it gained independence from France in 1960.

The 51-year-old Rajoelina first got here to prominence because the chief of a transitional authorities following a 2009 coup that pressured then-President Marc Ravalomanana to flee the nation and lose energy. Rajoelina was elected president in 2018 and reelected in 2023 in a vote boycotted by opposition events.