The African Union (AU) has suspended Madagascar following a army takeover that eliminated President Andry Rajoelina from energy, deepening political uncertainty within the Indian Ocean nation.
Military colonel Michael Randrianirina, who now leads the nation, mentioned on Wednesday he would quickly be sworn in as president after the constitutional courtroom invited him to imagine the function. The announcement got here simply hours after the AU condemned the coup and froze Madagascar’s membership with speedy impact.
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Rajoelina, who fled the nation over the weekend amid mounting avenue protests and army defections, has rejected his impeachment by lawmakers and denounced the army’s seizure of energy. “My so-called removing is null and void,” he mentioned in an announcement issued from overseas.
Weeks of youth-led demonstrations, dubbed the “Gen Z protests,” had shaken the capital, Antananarivo, with hundreds demanding Rajoelina’s resignation over corruption allegations and financial hardship.
The unrest escalated when items of the military joined the protesters, refusing orders to suppress the demonstrations.
Learn additionally: Madagascar plunges into chaos as Gen Z uprising drives president into hiding
By Tuesday, the army introduced it had dissolved all state establishments besides the decrease home of parliament, which had voted to question Rajoelina. Randrianirina, the commander of the elite military unit CAPSAT, mentioned the intervention was needed “to revive order” and promised a transition lasting as much as two years earlier than new elections.
“We took duty yesterday,” Randrianirina advised journalists. “We can be sworn in quickly.”
au condemns ‘unconstitutional change’
The African Union’s Peace and Safety Council described the occasions in Madagascar as an “unconstitutional change of presidency,” a transfer that routinely triggers suspension underneath AU guidelines.
In accordance with a Reuters report, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chairperson of the AU Fee, mentioned the bloc maintained “an unwavering respect for constitutional order and peaceable decision of disputes.”
“The rule of regulation should prevail over the rule of drive,” Youssouf mentioned throughout a council session in Addis Ababa. “Our strategy is grounded in regulation and dialogue.”
Learn additionally: Madagascar faces military mutiny as elite soldiers turn against president
The AU suspension carries important diplomatic weight and will additional isolate Madagascar’s new management from worldwide companions and regional our bodies.
Randrianirina’s rise to energy has drawn comparisons to 2009, when a youthful Rajoelina, then backed by the identical elite CAPSAT unit, got here to energy via a coup that ousted Marc Ravalomanana.
This time, the tables have turned. Randrianirina, as soon as Rajoelina’s ally, broke ranks final week, calling on the military to not fireplace on demonstrators.
