Madagascar rocked by mass protests against the government, with the military joining the protesters
Фото: REUTERS
Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina has declared an attempted coup after parts of the military joined mass protests in the capital Antananarivo. The unrest continues amid growing discontent over power and water shortages.
This is reported by Reuters .
On Sunday, the presidential administration announced that there was an “attempted illegal and violent seizure of power” in the country. The events unfolded after soldiers from the elite CAPSAT unit, which once helped Rajoelina come to power in a 2009 coup, called on the army to disobey government orders and support the youth protest movement.
The protests, which have been ongoing since September 25, were initially sparked by water and electricity shortages, but later escalated into demands for the president’s resignation, an apology for violence against demonstrators, and the dissolution of the Senate and the electoral commission.
Witnesses reported that shots were fired near the CAPSAT barracks, injuring three people. Other witnesses noted that there was no active fighting.
On Sunday, the two forces said they were overseeing security operations in the country. CAPSAT officials said they would coordinate all military units from a base on the outskirts of Antananarivo. The gendarmerie, meanwhile, said it received orders “exclusively from the National Gendarmerie Command Center.”
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital on Sunday to pay their respects to a fallen CAPSAT soldier who his comrades say was killed by gendarmerie. Church leaders, opposition politicians, including former President Marc Ravalomanana, and the military attended the rally.
In a statement on social media, Rajoelina’s office condemned attempts to destabilize the country and called for “dialogue to resolve the crisis.” The head of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Yusuf, welcomed the government’s “readiness for dialogue” and called on all parties to exercise calm and restraint.
Recall that large-scale protests took place in the center of Tbilisi on October 4 , coinciding with the day of municipal elections in Georgia. Thousands of citizens took to the streets to demand the resignation of the “Georgian Dream” government and declare it illegitimate.
It was previously reported that over half a million French people took part in nationwide strikes and demonstrations on September 18 against the government’s new budget draft, which includes austerity measures.
By the way, in early September, large-scale protests broke out in Nepal after the government banned social media , which quickly escalated into bloody riots. In the capital, Kathmandu, police opened fire on demonstrators, killing more than 20 people and injuring hundreds. Young people are demanding an end to corruption and censorship, while the country’s Prime Minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, announced his resignation, which caused a deep political crisis.
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