Madagascar’s National Assembly votes to impeach departed Rajoelina
By Giulia Paravicini
ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) – Madagascar’s lower house of parliament voted on Tuesday to impeach President Andry Rajoelina, who fled abroad after a dispute with youth-led protesters and the military.
The National Assembly’s decision, with 130 yes votes against one blank vote, came hours after the 51-year-old leader tried to dissolve the National Assembly by decree, deepening the political crisis on the Indian Ocean island.
Despite flying on a French military jet, Rajoelina refuses to resign despite weeks of Gen Z protests demanding his resignation and widespread defections in the military.
The Presidency said the parliamentary meeting was unconstitutional and therefore any decision was “null and void”.
Rajoelina said he was moved to a safe place due to threats to his life. An opposition official, a military source and a foreign diplomat told Reuters he fled the country on a French military plane on Sunday.
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“The people need to make their voices heard once again. It is the youth’s turn,” he said.
However, the opposition leader in the National Assembly objected to this. “This decree is not legally valid… The speaker of the National Assembly says he was not consulted,” said Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, who is also parliament’s deputy speaker.
DEMONSTRATIONS ARE INCREASING
Demonstrations that broke out in the country on September 25 over water and power outages quickly turned into an uprising over broader grievances such as corruption, mismanagement and lack of basic services.
The anger mirrored recent protests against ruling elites elsewhere, including Nepal and Morocco.
On Tuesday, in Antananarivo’s May 13 Square, along a main road lined with palm trees and French colonial buildings, thousands of protesters danced, marched, sang and waved banners accusing Rajoelina of being a French stooge because of his dual citizenship and the support he received from Madagascar’s former colonizer.
Many were waving Madagascar flags and protest banners featuring Gen Z’s signature skull and crossbones from the Japanese “One Piece” anime series.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that the constitutional order must be preserved and that although France understands the plight of its youth, they should not be exploited by military groups.
Rajoelina appears increasingly isolated after losing the support of CAPSAT, an elite unit that helped him seize power in the 2009 coup.
CAPSAT joined protesters over the weekend, saying it would refuse to open fire on them, and accompanied thousands of demonstrators through the main square of the capital Antananarivo.
He later said he was taking charge of the military and appointing a new chief of staff, prompting Rajoelina to warn of an attempt to seize power on Sunday.
The paramilitary gendarmerie and police have since broken ranks with the president.
Madagascar, where the average age is under 20, has a population of approximately 30 million, three-quarters of whom live in poverty. According to the World Bank, GDP per capita fell by 45% from the time of independence in 1960 to 2020.
(Reporting by Lovasoa Rabary and Tim Cocks in Antananarivo and Giulia Paravicini in Nairobi; Writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
