By Giulia Paravicini
ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) – Madagascar’s lower house of parliament voted on Tuesday to remove President Andry Rajoelina, who fled abroad after a clash with protesters led by youth and the military.
The decision by the National Assembly, by 130 votes in favor to one in favor, 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 plane, Rajoelina refuses to resign in defiance of weeks of Generation Z protests demanding his resignation and widespread desertions in the military.
The presidency said the assembly meeting was unconstitutional and therefore any resolution was “null and void.”
Rajoelina has said she moved to a safe place because of threats to her life. An opposition official, a military source and a foreign diplomat told Reuters that he had fled the country on Sunday aboard a French military plane.
In a post on X, Rajoelina said the decision to dissolve the national assembly, paving the way for an election in 60 days at the earliest, was “necessary to restore order” in Madagascar.
“The people must be heard once again. It is time for youth,” he stated.
However, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly questioned this. “This decree is not legally valid… the president of the National Assembly says he was not consulted,” said Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, who is also vice president of the assembly.
GROWTH OF DEMONSTRATIONS
Demonstrations broke out across the country on September 25 over water and energy shortages and quickly escalated into an uprising over broader grievances including corruption, poor governance and lack of basic services.
The anger mirrored recent protests against ruling elites elsewhere, including Nepal and Morocco.
On Tuesday, in Antananarivo’s Plaza 13 de Mayo, along the main street lined with palm trees and French colonial buildings, thousands of protesters danced, marched, sang songs and waved banners denouncing Rajoelina as a French puppet due to his dual citizenship and support of the former colonizer of Madagascar.
Many waved Malagasy flags and Generation Z’s signature protest banner featuring a skull and crossbones from the Japanese anime series “One Piece.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that the constitutional order must be preserved and that while France understands the grievances of young people, they should not be exploited by military factions.
Rajoelina appears increasingly isolated after losing the support of CAPSAT, an elite unit that helped him seize power in a 2009 coup.
CAPSAT joined the protesters over the weekend, saying it would refuse to shoot them and escorting thousands of protesters in the main square of the capital, Antananarivo.
He later said he would take charge of the army and appointed a new army chief, prompting Rajoelina to warn on Sunday of an attempt to seize power.
Since then, the paramilitary gendarmerie and police have broken ranks with the president.
Madagascar, where the average age is less than 20, has a population of around 30 million, three-quarters of whom live in poverty. GDP per capita plummeted 45% from the time of independence in 1960 to 2020, according to the World Bank.
(Reporting by Lovasoa Rabary and Tim Cocks in Antananarivo and Giulia Paravicini in Nairobi; writing by Silvia Aloisi; editing by Andrew Cawthorne)