Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina is set to address the nation on Monday evening, his office announced on Facebook, following a dramatic escalation in nationwide protests that have seen officers supporting demonstrators seize control of the island nation’s paramilitary gendarmerie.
The crisis comes after Rajoelina warned on Sunday of an attempted power grab as soldiers increasingly aligned themselves with youth-led protests that began on September 25. His current whereabouts remain unclear.
A Reuters witness reported that officers supporting the protesters took control of the paramilitary gendarmerie in the presence of senior government officials on Monday. General Nonos Mbina Mamelison replaced General Jean Herbert Rakotomalala as head of the gendarmerie in a ceremony attended by the minister in charge of the army, General Deramasinjaka Rakotoarivelo, and army chief of staff, General Demosthene Pikulas.
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“Exceptional situation, exceptional measures. And all the orders come from the gendarmerie command,” Mamelison told reporters when asked who was giving instructions to the unit.
The CAPSAT unit, an elite force that helped Rajoelina seize power in a 2009 coup, declared on Sunday that it had assumed control over Madagascar’s security operations and would coordinate all military branches from its base on the outskirts of Antananarivo. The unit also appointed Pikulas, former head of the military academy, as army chief.
CAPSAT urged other soldiers to defy orders on Saturday and support the demonstrators. The paramilitary gendarmerie, previously tasked with managing the protests alongside police, had been accused by protesters of excessive force.
Madagascar, a country of around 30 million where the median age is less than 20, has faced long-term economic challenges, with GDP per capita falling 45% between independence in 1960 and 2020, according to the World Bank. The island nation is a major producer of vanilla, but other exports including nickel, cobalt, textiles, and shrimp also play a vital role in foreign earnings and employment.
