Madagascar president’s whereabouts unclear after accusing opponents of coup

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Madagascar’s embattled President Andry Rajoelina was due to make a televised address to the nation on Monday as the main opposition party said he had fled the country after weeks of protests.

Rajoelina, a dual French-Malagasy citizen, is believed to have left the capital of Antananarivo on a French-registered aircraft at the weekend, two sources told the Financial Times.

His reported departure came hours after an elite unit of the military threw its support behind the massive youth-led demonstrations roiling the African island nation.

Mamy Rabenirina, secretary-general of TIM, the biggest opposition party, said “multiple sources” had told him the president had fled the country. 

“We know there was a helicopter that left the presidential palace [on Sunday] around 2pm, which arrived at the end of the [main airport] runway in St Marie around 3pm. And we know a French Transall aircraft landed there without authorisation and took off five minutes later,” Rabenirina told the FT.

“He can hide as long as he wants, but the only solution that will satisfy the Malagasy people is his resignation,” he added.

Rajoelina did not appear for a speech he was scheduled to give on Sunday night. The country’s minister of public security said the president’s whereabouts were unknown, Reuters reported. On Sunday, the president’s spokesperson denied reports that he had left the country.

Earlier this month, Rajoelina dissolved the government and so far had only reappointed new ministers for the armed forces, public security and the gendarmerie law enforcement force. He also named an army general as new prime minister, prompting demonstrators to call for the president’s resignation by the end of last week.

The president had called on troops from the police force in an attempt to quell the youth-led uprisings that began last month over chronic water and power cuts, fuelled by widespread anger over official corruption, high levels of poverty and unemployment. 

On Saturday, senior military police from the army’s CAPSAT unit urged soldiers to disobey orders. The force, which is responsible for storing the bulk of the army’s munitions and hardware, helped install Rajoelina after he led a popular uprising against his predecessor in 2009.

Rajoelina’s office on Sunday accused CAPSAT of “an attempted illegal and forcible seizure of power”.

One person familiar with the president’s movements told the FT: “The facts on the ground say that if he’s out the country, and there’s a massive popular uprising in the capital and in cities around the country . . . there isn’t any way back.

“It’s not as though he’s got a functioning government in place which he could claim is running the show either.”

Constitutionally, the president can only be removed if he resigns or is impeached by the Constitutional Court.

At least 22 people have been killed during the crackdown by authorities, according to UN figures. The government disputes those numbers but has not provided its own tally.

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.