Leader of Madagascar’s military rebellion tells AP he is ‘taking the position of president’

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — The leader of Madagascar’s military rebellion said Wednesday that he is “taking the position of president” in an interview with The Associated Press, adding that armed forces would be in charge of the Indian Ocean island for between 18 months and two years before any new elections are held.

Col. Michael Randrianirina, who led a mutiny by soldiers that ousted President Andry Rajoelina, said he expects to be sworn in as the country’s new leader in the next few days.

“There must be an oath-taking” to make his position official, Randrianirina said in an interview while flanked by other military officers. “We are staying here for at least 18 months, at most two years.”

Randrianirina announced Tuesday that the armed forces were taking power in Madagascar, capping weeks of protests against Rajoelina and his government by mainly youth groups calling themselves “Gen Z Madagascar.”

The protesters have demanded better government and more opportunities in a country with deep problems with poverty — echoing consequential youth-led protests elsewhere in the world.

The anti-government protests reached a turning point on Saturday when Randrianirina and soldiers from his elite CAPSAT military unit rebelled against Rajoelina and joined demonstrations calling for the president to step down, forcing Rajoelina to flee the country.

The military’s announcement that they were taking power as a council made up of military officers was greeted by celebrations from protesters who began the uprising last month.

Randrianirina said he is taking the role as head of state after the country’s High Constitutional Court invited him to do so in the absence of Rajoelina.

“We had to take responsibility yesterday because there is nothing left in the country, no president, no president in the senate, no government,” Randrianirina said.

Rajoelina, who was elected president in 2018 and re-elected in 2023, last month fired his government in an attempt to appease the protesters.

He said he had fled to a safe place out of fear for his life after the rebellion by Randrianirina’s soldiers. He has rejected the military takeover as an illegal coup attempt by a rebel faction.

“What is he (Rajoelina) saying is illegal?” Randrianirina said. “We have an order from the High Constitutional Court. We did not force the HCC or point a gun at it to issue this.”

Randrianirina’s claim that his authority to take over as president came from the country’s highest court seemed to contradict his announcement Tuesday that the military council that was taking power had suspended the powers of that court.

The colonel added the military leadership was “accelerating” the appointment of a new prime minister “so that the crisis in the country does not last forever.” He did not give an exact timeframe for that to happen.

Madagascans have seen their country roiled by several coups and attempted coups since gaining independence from France in 1960. The Indian Ocean island has also struggled with high levels of poverty ever since.

A 2009 military-led coup brought Rajoelina to power as a transitional leader, when the president had cast himself as a champion of the youth.

There was no significant immediate reaction to the takeover by other countries or the African Union, which had called an emergency meeting of its security council on Tuesday.

Some analysts have described the weekslong youth uprising in Madagascar as an expression of understandable grievances over government failures but condemned the military takeover.

“Gen-Zers in Madagascar have been on the streets of the country protesting the lack of essential services, especially water and electricity, and the negative impact on their lives for almost a month,” said Olufemi Taiwo, professor of Africana studies at Cornell University. “This is a civil society uprising and its resolution should not involve the military.”

He called for the African Union to condemn “another coup” that Africa “does not need,” adding that no country should recognize the new military leadership.

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa. AP writer Sarah Tetaud contributed to this report.