Daily Lens Report
The African Union (AU) has suspended Madagascar with immediate effect following a military coup that ousted President Andry Rajoelina from power.
Colonel Michael Randrianirina, who led the mutinying forces, declared himself interim president and announced that the military would govern the country for up to two years before organizing elections. Speaking to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Randrianirina said he would be sworn in “within days” after the High Constitutional Court invited him to assume leadership in Rajoelina’s absence.
“There is no president, no senate, no functioning government,” Randrianirina stated from his barracks in Antananarivo. “We are taking responsibility to prevent total collapse.” He added that a new prime minister would be appointed soon to head a transitional government.
The coup followed weeks of youth-led protests by groups calling themselves “Gen Z Madagascar,” demanding jobs, better governance, and improved living conditions in a country struggling with widespread poverty and corruption.
President Rajoelina, who has led Madagascar since 2018, fled the country during the uprising and later denounced the military action as an “illegal seizure of power.”
The military has since dissolved most state institutions, retaining only the lower house of parliament. The AU, in response, announced Madagascar’s suspension “until constitutional order is restored.”
Analysts have warned that the intervention could worsen instability in the Indian Ocean nation, which has experienced multiple coups since independence from France in 1960.
“This was fundamentally a civil uprising, not a military one,” said Professor Olufemi Taiwo of Cornell University. “The military’s role risks undermining the democratic aspirations of Madagascar’s youth.”
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed concern over the situation, affirming France’s “friendship with the people of Madagascar” while denying any involvement in Rajoelina’s escape.
Madagascar, one of the world’s poorest nations, continues to face economic stagnation and corruption, with its GDP per capita having nearly halved since independence and its corruption ranking sliding to 140th globally.
