In Madagascar, military ousts president and suspends constitution

Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina was ousted on Tuesday in a military coup following weeks of massive, youth-led protests demanding his resignation over poverty, corruption, and chronic power outages that have crippled the country. The takeover marks another turbulent chapter in the island nation’s history of political instability, coming 16 years after Rajoelina himself seized power in a similar coup. The move came hours after Madagascar’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to impeach the 51-year-old leader, who had already fled the country fearing for his life. In a dramatic announcement outside the ceremonial presidential palace in Antananarivo, Colonel Michael Randrianirina — commander of the elite CAPSAT military unit — declared that the armed forces had assumed control of the government and would form a transitional council composed of army and gendarmerie officers. “We are taking power,” Randrianirina told reporters to the cheers of thousands of protesters gathered nearby. “The constitution is suspended. We will organize a referendum within two years to establish a new democratic order.”
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