‘Gen Z’ protesters in Madagascar call for general strike

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“Gen Z” protesters in Madagascar have called for a general strike as demonstrations to topple the government of President Andry Rajoelina escalate, snowballing into the biggest of their kind on the island nation in years.

The youth-led protests began last month over chronic water and power cuts, fuelled by widespread anger over official corruption, high levels of poverty and unemployment. 

At least 22 people have been killed as authorities have cracked down on the movement, according to UN figures. The government disputes those numbers but has not provided its own tally.

The turmoil roiling the Indian Ocean island of 31mn people — a minerals exporter known for growing the world’s top quality vanilla — is the most serious threat to Rajoelina since he came to power in 2019.

Inspired by recent youth-led movements in Kenya and Nepal, the protests led by a group calling themselves “Gen Z Madagascar” have also been supported by trade unions and civic groups. Some opposition politicians said they would join in the general strike on Thursday.

Near-daily protests, including major roads being blocked by burning tyres and sit-ins at the country’s main hospital, have spread from the capital of Antananarivo to the southern city of Toliara and Diego Suarez, in the north.

Three homes of politicians known to be close to the president have been attacked, local media reported.

Four days after demonstrations began in September, Rajoelina dissolved the government in a bid to ease the long-brewing tensions. He has yet to form a new cabinet, but has since named new ministers for the armed forces, public security and the gendarmerie law enforcement force.

Rajoelina, who has also called the protests an attempted coup, on Tuesday appointed General Ruphin Fortunat Zafisambo as prime minister. Gen Z Madagascar said it did not recognise the appointment and instead called for the president to resign by Friday.

“We are calling for the resignation of the president and he responds by dissolving the government — removing everyone but himself,” Mami Rabenirina, the secretary-general of TIM, the main opposition party, told the Financial Times. “The resignation of Rajoelina is the only solution that will satisfy the Malagasy people.”

Representatives for the movement refused to attend talks on Wednesday, which the president said included spiritual leaders, students and youth representatives.

“I don’t want flattery. I want to hear the truth. It’s the people who kept telling me that everything was fine who are responsible for our current situation,” Rajoelina told the attendees.

Rajoelina has asked for one year to address the country’s challenges and promised to resign if he failed. “I swear that if power cuts persist in the capital within a year, I will resign,” he said.

A French-Malagasy former DJ and businessman, Rajoelina was himself hailed as a youthful voice of change after he was elected mayor of Antananarivo in 2007 aged just 33.

He later led protests that resulted in a military-backed coup. Named head of a transitional government by a military council, he was later elected president in 2018 polls which opposition candidates boycotted.

His popularity has since waned. Despite a vast array of national resources, 80 per cent of people in the country — which has been periodically roiled by uprisings since gaining independence from France in 1960 — live below the poverty line, a burden made worse by recent US aid cuts.

Madagascar is the latest country to be swept up in a wave of youth-led protests unfolding across the globe.

Often dressed in black, the protesters have adopted an image of a pirate skull and crossbones wearing a traditional Malagasy hat. Based on the Japanese comic series “One Piece”, which follows a group of young pirates battling against an authoritarian government, the logo was also embraced by young protesters who toppled the government in Nepal last month.

This month, young Moroccans began using social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram and the gaming app Discord to organise anti-government protests, criticising officials for pouring money into hosting the 2030 football World Cup while leaving public services underfunded. 

Additional reporting by William Wallis