Soldiers from elite Capsat unit join protests against Madagascar’s president | Madagascar
Thousands of protesters against Madagascar’s president took to the streets of the capital on Saturday afternoon and were joined by soldiers from an elite army unit that had said earlier in the day that they would not open fire on demonstrators.
Protesters marched with soldiers from the Capsat unit, who used armored vehicles, some waving Madagascar flags, from their base in Soanierana, south of Antananarivo.
Later, Capsat leader Lylison René de Rolland addressed the cheering crowd in front of the city hall in May 13 Square, where protesters had previously been prevented from reaching. Capsat soldiers brought current president Andry Rajoelina to power in a coup in 2009.
The intervention of the soldiers increased the pressure on Rajoelina, from which the demonstrators demanded to withdraw. Youth-led protests broke out on September 25, initially over water and power outages. But as Gen Z protesters were not appeased by Rajoelina’s firing of his government last week, they quickly turned to calls for a complete overhaul of the political system.
Earlier in the day, police used stun grenades and tear gas to disperse protesters. The recently appointed Minister of the Armed Forces also called on soldiers to “stay calm” at a press conference on Saturday.
“We call on our brothers and sisters who disagree with us to prioritize dialogue,” said Minister General Deramasinjaka Manantsoa Rakotoarivelo. “The Malagasy military continues to act as a mediator and constitutes the country’s last line of defence.”
But the Capsat leader, accompanied by a large group of soldiers, called on other military units to “reject orders to shoot your friends” in a video posted on social media before leaving the barracks.
“Let’s join forces with the military, gendarmerie and police and refuse to receive money to shoot our friends and brothers,” he said, and called on the soldiers at the airport to “prevent all planes from taking off.”
“Close the doors and await our instructions,” he said. “Do not obey the orders of your superiors. Point your weapons at those who order you to shoot at your comrades, because if we die, they will not take care of our families.”
Nothing has been shared on the president’s social media accounts since Friday evening. in the picture He will meet with the presidents of the country’s 10 universities to discuss improving students’ lives.
An activist who attended Saturday’s demonstrations said he was concerned about Capsat’s intervention because of his role in the 2009 coup that brought Rajoelina to power. He also criticized politicians who gave short speeches to the crowd in front of the city hall as “opportunists”.
The activist, who did not want his name to be disclosed out of fear for his safety, said: “That’s why I’m not happy at all, because all the people revolving around this ‘event’ are dangerous.”
A member of Generation Z Madagascar, a leaderless group of young people who helped coordinate the protests, also expressed skepticism about what will happen next. “We are very happy, but there is a lot going on” [and] “We don’t want another corrupt person to take power here, so we will do everything to have the right to choose who we put there,” he said.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
