ANTANANARIVO: Madagascar&#39;s presidency said on Sunday that an attempt to grab power by force was underway in the African nation as more soldiers joined a youth-led protest movement that has rocked the former French colony for more than two weeks. Troops from the elite CAPSAT unit that helped President Andry Rajoelina seize power in a 2009 coup, urged fellow soldiers to disobey orders on Saturday and back the youth-led protests, which began on September 25 and pose the most serious challenge to Rajoelina&#39;s rule since his reelection in 2023. CAPSAT officers said on Sunday they had command over the country&#39;s security operations and would coordinate all branches of the military from their base on the outskirts of the capital, Antananarivo. They said they had appointed General Demosthene Pikulas as head of the army. A unit of the paramilitary gendarmerie, which had so far tackled the protests together with the police, also broke ranks with the government on Sunday. &quot;All use of force and any improper behaviour towards our fellow citizens are prohibited, as the gendarmerie is a force meant to protect people and not to defend the interests of a few individuals,&quot; the Intervention Forces of the National Gendarmerie said in a statement broadcast on Real TV. It said it was coordinating with the CAPSAT headquarters. The Defence Ministry and the military general staff declined to comment. A Reuters witness saw three people injured after shots were fired along a road to the CAPSAT barracks on Sunday. Other witnesses said there was no sign of ongoing clashes. In a statement on the presidency&#39;s official social media account, Rajoelina&#39;s office said &quot;an attempted illegal and forcible seizure of power&quot; was underway, adding that the president had urged &quot;dialogue to resolve the crisis&quot;. Rajoelina&#39;s whereabouts were unknown on Sunday, but late on Saturday his office said he and the prime minister were &quot;fully in control of the nation&#39;s affairs&quot;. Gen Z protesters want president to step down The protests, inspired by Gen Z-led movements in Kenya and Nepal, began over water and electricity shortages but have since spread, with demonstrators calling for Rajoelina to step down, apologise for violence against protesters, and dissolve the Senate and electoral commission. Some demonstrators have been sporting T-shirts and flags with the same symbol - a skull with a straw hat from the Japanese manga series &quot;One Piece&quot; - used by youth-led demonstrators in countries including Indonesia and Peru. Thousands of protesters gathered in Antananarivo on Sunday to protest against the government and pay tribute to a slain CAPSAT soldier, whom the army unit said was killed by the gendarmerie on Saturday. The peaceful gathering was attended by church leaders and opposition politicians, including former President Marc Ravalomanana, as well as CAPSAT troops. Madagascar, a country where the median age is less than 20, has a population of about 30 million - three-quarters of whom live in poverty, according to the World Bank. A video broadcast by local media showed dozens of soldiers leaving the barracks on Saturday to escort thousands of protesters into the May 13 Square in Antananarivo, the scene of many political uprisings, which had been heavily guarded and off limits during the unrest. The African Union Commission&#39;s chief Mahmoud Ali Youssouf called for calm and restraint. Citing the security situation on the ground, Air France-KLM&#39;s AIRF.PA French division suspended flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport and Antananarivo from October 11 to October

Protesters cheer members of the Madagascar military behind a fence during a nationwide youth-led demonstration over frequent power outages and water shortages, in Antananarivo, Madagascar, October 11, 2025. (Reuters)

Africa

Madagascar faces an attempted coup as elite soldiers join youth protests demanding President Rajoelina’s resignation amid unrest, with calls for dialogue and flight suspensions.

Madagascar president warns of coup attempt as more soldiers join protests

Maham Khan

ISLAMABAD: Youth-led protests are reshaping political activism across Asia and Africa in 2025, with digital media emerging as a powerful tool for demanding systemic change. The &quot;Gen Z Protests&quot; began in Bangladesh in July 2024, led by young Bengali students demanding the removal of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. In 2025, similar youth-led protests spread from Timor-Leste and the Philippines to Nepal, Morocco, and Madagascar, driven by issues like corruption, economic inequality, infrastructure failures, and mass censorship. Madagascar targets elite control In Madagascar, protests erupted in September 2025 over prolonged water and power outages, widespread poverty, and government corruption. Protestors also condemned political elites. The World Bank reported that Madagascar&#39;s income per capita has fallen by 45% since 1960, with a &quot;small, unaccountable elite&quot; maintaining tight control over the economy, according to Reuters. Protesters have highlighted this inequality, using digital platforms to expose systemic issues. According to Reuters, the demonstrations have been &quot;the largest the Indian Ocean island has seen in years,&quot; with protesters demanding the president&#39;s resignation and the dissolution of key government institutions. <figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/83df9db8-ae2c-41ce-8eb3-626969019c3d-Madagascar police react to protesters demonstrating against chronic electricity and water cuts in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP).jpg" alt="Madagascar police react to protesters demonstrating against chronic electricity and water cuts in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP)" class="fr-fil fr-dib"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic" style="line-height: 2;">Madagascar police react to protesters demonstrating against chronic electricity and water cuts in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP)</figcaption></figure>Social media fuels coordination The digital strategy driving these protests is remarkably sophisticated. Inspired by youth-led movements in Kenya and Nepal, Madagascar&#39;s Gen Z activists have used social media to coordinate nationwide demonstrations. &quot;This is not a retreat but a strategy: we will come back together more united, stronger,&quot; the protest movement&#39;s leadership declared in a Facebook post, as reported by Reuters on Thursday. The protests have spread beyond the capital, with protestors in far-off cities also chanting &quot;Rajoelina Out&quot; and carrying banners denouncing the government. Despite the country&rsquo;s president dissolving the government on Monday, AP reported that public anger continues to simmer. Nepal&rsquo;s activism blueprint Nepal&#39;s recent protests offer a blueprint for digital activism. When the government banned 26 social media platforms on September 4, 2025, activists shifted to alternative channels like Discord and used VPNs to bypass restrictions. The widespread youth-led protests escalated, leading to violent clashes and the eventual resignation of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. The movement showed how digital tools can directly challenge political power. Digital power driving change These movements reveal a fundamental shift in political engagement. Digital platforms have transformed from communication tools to instruments of political change, allowing young people to organize, broadcast their messages, and challenge existing power structures with unprecedented speed and coordination.

People protest against corruption and calling for healthcare and education reform, in Casablanca, Morocco, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP)

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Youth-led Gen Z protests began in Bangladesh in 2024 and spread across Asia and Africa by 2025. Using digital platforms, activists oppose corruption, inequality, and poor infrastructure, demanding political change and elite accountability.

Gen Z protests: Digital platforms fuel change from Asia to Africa

ANTANANARIVO: Riot police locked down the centre of Madagascar&#39;s capital on Friday ahead of planned fresh protests against President Andry Rajoelina, the political elite and years of misrule. The near-daily rallies, which began on September 25 in Antananarivo, have since spread to other parts of the Indian Ocean island, posing the most significant challenge yet to Rajoelina&#39;s tenure since his 2023 re-election. The 51-year-old leader, a former mayor of Antananarivo, on Monday sacked his government to placate the anger but protests have gained ground, including in the city of Sambava, known as the world&#39;s vanilla capital and a major foreign exchange earner for the country. After a 24-hour &quot;strategic&quot; pause in the capital, several branches of the protest movement said they would reconvene at 11:00 am local time (0800 GMT). But their planned meeting point in the city&#39;s main square was placed under heavy security surveillance, AFP journalists saw. Police pickups sped through the city centre, while shops stayed shut along the capital&#39;s main Independence Avenue. Just three kilometers away, life went on as usual, with schoolchildren in the streets, vegetable vendors opening up and steady traffic flowing.&nbsp; The protesters have demanded that Rajoelina step down due to his failure to deliver basic services, including water and electricity.&nbsp; The &quot;Gen Z&quot; movement leading the protests on Thursday named its spokespeople and outlined its motivations. They have called on more organizations to support their campaign. Several unions, including the national water and electricity workers, have called a general strike, while the opposition, in rare unity, has also thrown its support behind them. Dialogue Consultations to appoint a new prime minister have meanwhile continued.&nbsp; In a post on his Facebook page Friday, Rajoelina said he had met religious leaders of the country in a bid to quell the crisis and restore order.&nbsp;&quot;We prayed for our nation together,&quot; the president wrote, adding that he also met diplomats and representatives from the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations. It is the latest bout of unrest to hit Madagascar since its independence from France in 1960.&nbsp; At least 22 people have been killed and hundreds injured since Thursday last week, according to the UN, a toll the government has denied as based on rumors or misinformation. Rajoelina, a media mogul, first came to power in 2009 following a coup sparked by an uprising, which ousted former president Marc Ravalomanana. After not contesting the 2013 election under international pressure, he was voted back into office in 2018 and re-elected in 2023 in contested polls boycotted by the opposition. Widespread corruption&nbsp; Despite natural resources, the nation of 32 million people remains among the world&#39;s poorest countries. Nearly three-quarters of its population were living below the poverty line in 2022, according to the World Bank. Corruption is widespread, with the country ranking 140th out of 180 in Transparency International&#39;s index.

Protesters watch as riot police officers drive past during a demonstration against frequent power outages and water shortages, in the capital Antananarivo, Madagascar, October 1, 2025. (Reuters)

Riot police sealed off Madagascar’s capital Friday ahead of fresh protests against President Andry Rajoelina over service failures. Strikes and opposition unity deepen crisis as talks to appoint a new prime minister continue.

Madagascar capital under tight security for new anti-government protest

Reuters

ANTANANARIVO: Organisers of Madagascar&#39;s youth-led anti-government protests suspended marches in the capital Antananarivo on Thursday for 24 hours, citing concerns over demonstrators&#39; health and strength, but marches continued in other parts of the large island nation. Inspired by similar youth-led &quot;Gen Z&quot; protests in Kenya and Nepal, the rallies mark the largest wave of unrest in Madagascar in years and pose a significant challenge to President Andry Rajoelina, who was re-elected in 2023. The United Nations says at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 injured so far in the week-long protests. The government rejects those figures. &quot;This is not a retreat but a strategy: we will come back together more united, stronger,&quot; Gen Z Madagascar, the protest movement&#39;s main leadership, said in a Facebook post, announcing the temporary suspension of protests in Antananarivo. A government spokesperson did not respond to Reuters&#39; requests for comment. Public anger over water shortages, power cuts Rajoelina dissolved the government late on Monday, but the move has failed to quell public anger, which first erupted last week in the capital over worsening water shortages and power cuts. The protesters are demanding Rajoelina&#39;s resignation and the dissolution of the election commission, the upper chamber Senate, and the country&#39;s top court. Protests continued outside the capital on Thursday, with hundreds marching in Toliara, some 925 km south of Antananarivo, chanting &quot;Rajoelina Out&quot; and carrying banners denouncing the president, footage aired by privately-owned Radio T&eacute;l&eacute;vision Siteny showed. In Diego Suarez, 950 km north of the capital, protesters were also marching under police escort, according to privately-owned media outlet Fitaproduction. Reliant on agriculture and tourism, the Indian Ocean nation remains one of Africa&#39;s poorest. Entrenched poverty, unaccountable elites Since Madagascar won independence from France in 1960, income per capita had fallen by 45% by 2020, according to the World Bank, which blames the poor economic performance on tight control of the economy and government by a small, unaccountable elite and on a lack of competition and transparency. Some demonstrators have carried flags depicting a grinning skull wearing a straw hat, in reference to a pirate flag from a Japanese manga that has become a popular symbol among young protesters around the world. &quot;The protests are not merely about utilities or governance failures; they are a rejection of a political order that has remained fundamentally unchanged for decades,&quot; Ketakandriana Rafitoson, the global vice-chair of Transparency International, wrote in a briefing on the crisis. &quot;Elite networks continue to capture state institutions, siphon public resources, and weaponize poverty to maintain control,&quot; wrote Rafitoson, who is also Malagasy. The Senate convened on Thursday to discuss potential nominees for the post of prime minister after failing to reach consensus on a candidate during earlier deliberations

Protesters gesture in front of riot police officers during a demonstration against frequent power outages and water shortages, in the capital Antananarivo, Madagascar, October 1, 2025. (Reuters)

Youth-led protests in Madagascar demanding President Rajoelina’s resignation over water and power shortages have been paused in the capital, Antananarivo, but continue in other parts of the country.

Madagascar youth protesters suspend marches in capital for 24 hours

ANTANANARIVO: Hundreds of protesters across Madagascar demanded the resignation of President Andry Rajoelina on Wednesday, taking to the streets for a fifth day of demonstrations that have shaken the government, local television broadcasts showed. Spurred by the so-called youth-led &quot;Gen Z&quot; protests in Kenya and Nepal, the demonstrations have been the largest the Indian Ocean island has seen in years, and the most serious challenge Rajoelina has faced since his re-election in 2023. The protests initially started in Antananarivo last week over nationwide water shortages and power blackouts but have since spread across the island, prompting Rajoelina to dissolve the government late on Monday. His move failed to assuage public anger. A message on the protest movement&#39;s Facebook page called for Rajoelina&#39;s resignation as well as the dissolution of the election commission, the senate and the country&#39;s top court. Protesters chant &lsquo;Rajoelina out&rsquo; The United Nations says at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the protests started last week, figures the government rejects. On Wednesday, protesters took to the streets in the capital and towns including Toliara, 925 km (575 miles) south of Antananarivo, chanting &quot;get out&quot; and waving flags and banners with the words &quot;Rajoelina Out&quot;, footage broadcast by privately-owned Radio T&eacute;l&eacute;vision Siteny showed. They were escorted by security forces in vehicles, and other protesters in rickshaws, the footage showed. A government spokesperson did not respond to Reuters requests for comment, however the president&#39;s spokesperson Lova Ranoromaro said on social media that property had been destroyed and homes looted. &quot;We do not want a coup d&#39;etat, because a coup d&#39;etat destroys a nation, because a coup d&#39;etat destroys the future of our children,&quot; Ranoromaro wrote on her personal Facebook account. Opposition leader Rivo Rakotovao said the main opposition parties&#39; alliance Firaisankina would not join any new government with Rajoelina in power, and called on him to step down. &quot;We fully support this action to rescue the Malagasy people and rebuild the nation, led by the Malagasy people and driven by the youth,&quot; Rakotovao told a news conference. Rajoelina first came to power in a 2009 coup. He stepped down in 2014 but became president again after winning the 2018 election, and secured a third term in a December 2023 poll that his challengers said was marred by irregularities. In a message from the Vatican, Pope Leo said he was saddened by the violent clashes in the predominantly Christian nation. &quot;Let us pray to the Lord that every form of violence may always be avoided and that the constant pursuit of social harmony may be fostered through the promotion of justice and the common good,&quot; he said in his weekly address.

A protester kicks a tear gas canister lobbed by Malagasy riot police officers to disperse protesters during a demonstration against frequent power outages and water shortages, within Antaninandro neighborhood, in Antananarivo, Madagascar. (Reuters)

Protests entered fifth day in Madagascar as the public demanded President Rajoelina’s resignation over water shortages and blackouts. Over 22 have been reported dead even as government reshuffled.

Articles tagged with "Madagascar protests"

Madagascar president warns of coup attempt as more soldiers join protests

Gen Z protests: Digital platforms fuel change from Asia to Africa

Madagascar capital under tight security for new anti-government protest

Madagascar youth protesters suspend marches in capital for 24 hours

Madagascar protesters demand president's resignation in fifth day of rallies

Madagascar president warns of coup attempt as more soldiers join protests