Madagascar's Political Crisis, PresidentRajoelina Will Speech Amid Military Coup Efforts

Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina/PHOTO via Instagram @andry_rajoelina

JAKARTA - Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina will address the people on Monday evening, after a military that supports youth-led protests.

Rajoelina previously warned of attempts to seize power as the army increasingly sided with demonstrators in the movement that had rocked the country since protests began on September 25. Its existence remains unclear.

On Monday, October 13, officers supporting young demonstrators took control of the paramilitary gendarmerie in Madagascar in front of senior government officials.

The protests, initially sparked by grassroots complaints, have rapidly grown to become the most serious challenge to the Rajoelina administration since being re-elected in 2023.

General Nonos Mbina Mamelison took over the position of head of the gendarmerie from General Jean Herbert Rakotomalala in a ceremony on Monday attended by ministers in charge of the army, General Deramasinda Rakotoarivelo and General Demosthene Pikulas, army chief of staff.

"The situation is extraordinary, the steps are extraordinary. And all orders come from the Gendarmerie command," Mamellison told reporters when asked who was in charge of giving the unit command.

The paramilitary gendarmerie unit, which has so far handled protests with police and was accused by protesters of using excessive force, defected from the government on Sunday.

Officers from CAPSAT, an elite unit that helped Rajoelina seize power in a 2009 coup, said on the same day they were in control of Madagascar's security operations and would coordinate all military branches from their bases on the outskirts of the capital, Antanandarivo.

They appointed Pikulas, the former head of the military academy, as commander of the army.

The CAPSAT unit urged its fellow soldiers to disobey orders on Saturday and support the demonstrators.