Madagascan president ousted

Military coup caps weeks of youth protests over poverty, corruption

- BY NQOBILE NTSHANGGASE, BRIAN INGANGA, SARAH TETAUD AND GERALD IMRAY

LUIS TATO AFP/Getty Images

PROTESTERS chant as they gather to demand the resignation of President Andry Rajoelina on Monday.

Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina was toppled Tuesday in a military coup that capped weeks of youth protests over poverty, power outages and a lack of opportunity in the Indian Ocean island country.

Right after Parliament voted to impeach Rajoelina, who fled the country fearing for his safety, the leader of Madagascar’s elite CAPSAT military unit said the armed forces would form a council made up of officers from the military and police, or gendarmerie, and would appoint a prime minister to “quickly” form a civilian government.

“We are taking power,” Col. Michael Randrianirina told reporters in front of a ceremonial presidential palace in the capital, Antananarivo, as protesters celebrated the news with soldiers. He said that the constitution and High Constitutional Court’s powers had been suspended, and that a referendum would be held in two years, though he didn’t go into details.