ANTANANARIVO – In a swift and decisive move, a military colonel who orchestrated a coup has assumed control in Madagascar, poised to be inaugurated as the nation’s leader on Friday. The coup forced the president to flee and seek refuge in an undisclosed location.

Colonel Michael Randrianirina, who leads an elite military unit, is scheduled to take his oath of office at Madagascar’s High Constitutional Court, according to a statement released via state media.

Randrianirina’s rise to power has been rapid, occurring just three days after he declared the military’s seizure of control on the vast Indian Ocean island, home to approximately 30 million people and situated off Africa’s eastern coast.

Early Friday, preparations were underway at the court, with soldiers securing the entrances and officials beginning to assemble. The ceremony is expected to take place in the supreme court’s main chamber.

The military coup, following three weeks of predominantly youth-led anti-government demonstrations, has drawn condemnation from the United Nations and resulted in Madagascar’s suspension from the African Union.

Meanwhile, the current whereabouts of President Andry Rajoelina remain a mystery. He fled the country amid claims of threats to his life due to the armed forces’ uprising under Randrianirina’s command. In his absence, the parliament swiftly voted to impeach him on Tuesday, just before the military declared its takeover.

Randrianirina, who emerged from relative obscurity to lead the rebellion by his CAPSAT military unit, was briefly imprisoned two years ago for an attempted mutiny. He said he spent most of the three months he was detained in late 2023 and early 2024 at a military hospital.

Madagascar has high rates of poverty, which affect around 75% of the population, according to the World Bank. The former French colony also has a tumultuous history of political instability since gaining independence in 1960 that has included several coups and attempted coups.

Rajoelina himself came to power as a transitional leader in 2009 after a military-backed coup.

Randrianirina has said Madagascar will be run by a military council with him as president for between 18 months and two years before any new elections, meaning the young people who inspired the uprising against Rajoelina may have a long wait before they are able to choose their new leader.

The protests, which began last month, have echoed other Gen Z-led uprisings in Nepal, Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Young Madagascans first took to the streets last month to rail against regular water and power outages, but have raised other issues, including the cost of living, the lack of opportunities and alleged corruption and nepotism by the elite.

Randrianirina seized on the momentum last weekend by turning against Rajoelina and joining the anti-government protests that called for the president and government ministers to step down. There was a brief clash between his soldiers and members of the gendarmerie security forces still loyal to Rajoelina, during which one CAPSAT soldier was killed, the colonel said.

But there has been no major violence on the streets and Randrianirina’s troops have been cheered and their takeover celebrated by Madagascans.

Randrianirina said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that the military takeover was a move to “take responsibility as citizens and patriots.”

“From now on, we will restore the country to its former glory, fight against insecurity, and gradually try to solve the social problems that Malagasy people experience,” the colonel said in an interview at his unit’s barracks.

On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the unconstitutional change of government in Madagascar and “calls for the return to constitutional order and the rule of law,” his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said. There has been little significant reaction to the military takeover from other countries, including Madagascar’s former colonial ruler France.

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.

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More AP news on Madagascar: https://apnews.com/hub/madagascar