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Early on Sunday, the contingent claimed in a video statement that “from now on, all orders of the Malagasy army — whether land, air or the navy — will originate from CAPSAT headquarters”.
Youth-led protests in Madagascar, initially sparked by water and electricity shortages, have since escalated. Source: AFP / Luis Tato
Hours later, the unit’s pick for new chief of the army staff, General Demosthene Pikulas, was installed during a ceremony at the army headquarters attended by the armed forces minister, Manantsoa Deramasinjaka Rakotoarivelo.
Asked about calls for Rajoelina to resign, he said he refused to “discuss politics within a military facility”.
CAPSAT colonel Michael Randrianirina said his unit’s decision to join the protesters did not amount to a coup. “We answered the people’s calls, but it wasn’t a coup d’état,” he told reporters.
Why are people protesting in Madagascar?
“Look at Madagascar. They [the government] are rich and we don’t have enough to eat.”
Some Madagascar soldiers joined the so-called gen Z protests, saying they would refuse any orders to shoot demonstrators. Source: EPA / Razafindrakoto Mamy
Earlier, protesters paid tribute to a slain CAPSAT soldier, the army unit said was killed by the gendarmerie. Church leaders and opposition politicians, including former president Marc Ravalomanana, who was ousted in the 2009 uprising, as well as CAPSAT troops, attended the peaceful gathering.
Rajoelina has disputed the toll, saying last week there were “12 confirmed deaths and all of these individuals were looters and vandals”.
