(English) Rajoelina leaves Madagascar amid unrest – reports

Mae’n ddrwg gen i, mae’r cofnod hwn dim ond ar gael mewn English.

Malagasy president Andry Rajoelina is strongly believed to have left Madagascar, following 18 days of protest against his rule and living standards in the island republic.

Rajoelina has engaged in no presidential business since Friday (10^th October 2025) but made a statement earlier today, issued by his office, in which he said a coup d’etat was being carried out – a claim strongly-denied by protestors, who say they are exercising their right to demonstrate, and said his failures, and what they regard as his excesses in response to the protests, mean he must resign.

He had been scheduled to address the nation on public television at 7pm Malagasy-time (4pm BST), but the address was rescheduled for 8.30pm (5.30pm BST) and again for 9.30pm, amid claims parts of the Malagasy army had threatened to seize the headquarters of national broadcaster Televiziona Malagasy (TVM).

No announcement had been made about what he was going to say, leading to speculation he may have intended to resign, to call new elections, or to call for the country to cease protests and enter into negotiation and discussion.

In the event, at the time of writing (12.20am Malagasy time, Tuesday 14^th October 2025), Rajoelina has still not made any public announcement or statement, let alone the proposed address.

Widespread protests began in Antananarivo on Thursday 25^th September 2025, while Rajoelina was participating in the UN General Assembly meeting. They built upon smaller protests outside the headquarters of the Malagasy national power and water supply company JIRAMA, and began as demonstrations against regular electricity and power cuts across Madagascar.

Despite JIRAMA receiving a reported ten per cent of Madagascar’s annual revenue, cuts had been increasing in regularity and severity, with some leaving people without power or water for ten hours at a time.

And, led by young people who have been described as ‘Gen Z Madagascar’, the protestors’ complaints extended beyond the outages.

They grew to include allegations of widespread abuse of human rights, as well as government corruption and, in a country where 90 per cent of citizens live on or below the global poverty baseline, where only a third of Malagasy people are even connected to the electricity supply system, and where inflation has outstripped wages leaving many unable to afford enough food to eat, widespread protests against poverty and low living standards.

The government had attempted to ban the Antananarivo demonstrations, and demonstrators were met with force by Malagasy police, who fired rubber bullets and tear-gas and carried out baton charges against the protestors. At least five people were originally reported to have been killed in the protest, and the riots and stand-offs which followed.

The United Nations’ high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, called for an end to ‘disproportionate violence’ and reported ‘at least 22’ deaths, as well as more than 100 people injured.

Rajoelina last week said these figures were inaccurate, that ‘only’ 12 people had been killed and ‘all these individuals were looters and vandals’.

Rajoelina did respond to the protests, however. On Friday 26^th September, he sacked the Malagasy energy minister Olivier Jean-Baptiste for ‘failing to do his job’.

The government also imposed curfews on Antananarivo and four of Madagascar’s other major cities, Antsiranana, Majunga, Toliara and Antsirabe.

But protests continued.

On Monday 29^th September, Rajoelina announced the dissolution of his government, and one week later, on Monday 6^th October, he appointed Malagasy Army General Ruphin Fortunat Zafisambo as prime minister.

But despite this, and despite Rajoelina promising to be ‘even closer to the people’ the protests, in the Malagasy capital and across the country, continued. In fact, anger increased, and in some cases demonstrations included public memorials and mourning of people killed in the movement’s first days.

And over the weekend, three significant steps took place.

On Sunday 12^th October, councillors in Antananarivo’s local government approved protests in the city’s Place du-13 Mai, a location considered to be of strategic if only figurative power, and the leader of the Malagasy Senate, former General Richard Ravalomanana was removed from his position. He has been replaced on a temporary basis by Jean Andre Ndremanjary.

In the event of the Malagasy state president being removed from or resigning their position, the Senate Head assumes their duties until an election can be held.

But one day earlier, the CAPSAT, a unit of the Malagasy army with considerable power and influence, announced it was backing the protestors.

The actions of CAPSAT are widely-regarded as having been central to the 2009 coup which removed then president Marc Ravalomanana, following protests led by Rajoelina, who was at that point Antananarivo’s mayor, and in less than two months took over as Malagasy president.

A CAPSAT general said on Saturday that one of their soldiers had been shot dead by the Malagasy gendarmerie – the police under the command of the defence ministry – and CAPSAT Colonel Michael Randrianirina publicly ordered his soldiers not to obey ‘any illegal orders’ saying they must not ‘open fire on our brothers and sisters’ – the demonstrators.

CAPSAT soldiers escorted protestors to demonstration sites, and joined protests on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (11^th, 12^th and 13^th October).

Randrianirina said CAPSAT was not staging a coup, but ‘answering the people’s calls.’

Early on Sunday, CAPSAT announced it had effectively taken control of Madagascar’s armed forces, saying that ‘all orders for the army, air force and navy, will originate from now, from the CAPSAT headquarters.’

Later the same day, the CAPSAT preferred candidate for Chief of Army Staff, General Demosthene Pikulas, was confirmed in the role by Malagasy armed forces minister Manantsoa Deramasinjaka Rakotoarivelo. The latter, who had been appointed by Rajoelina just a week before, commented: ‘I give him my blessing.’

Pikulas said the Malagasy army had ‘a responsibility’ to ‘restore calm and peace’ throughout Madagascar.

Reports originating from ‘a military source’ surfaced today (Monday 13^th October 2025) that Rajoelina had left Madagascar on Sunday on a French military aircraft, stopping in Comoros and arriving early this morning in Dubai.

French president Emmanuel Macron, in Egypt for the conference on the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, said he ‘could not immediately confirm’ the claim.

The leader of the Malagasy parliamentary opposition, Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, told Reuters that he had called the staff of the presidency, who confirmed to him that Rajoelina was ‘out of the country’, though the president’s office did not reply to the news agency’s request for comment.

Late this evening, the Mauritian government confirmed that former Malagasy prime minister Christian Ntsay, and businessman Maminiaina Ravatomanga, both close to Rajoelina, had ‘urgently flown’ to Mauritius on Sunday morning.