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Madagascar faces its most severe political crisis in over a decade as a wave of Gen Z-led protests has escalated into what President Andry Rajoelina describes as an attempted coup.
The unrest intensified after CAPSAT, the elite military unit that helped install Rajoelina in power in 2009, declared its allegiance to the protesters and announced it had taken control of the armed forces. The youth-led movement, Gen Z Madagascar, began on 25 September in response to chronic water and electricity shortages. But the protests have since evolved into broader demands for government accountability, economic justice, and democratic reform. Organized online and decentralized in leadership, the demonstrators have drawn comparisons to similar Gen Z uprisings in Nepal, Kenya, and Bangladesh.
As CAPSAT troops joined demonstrators in the capital Antananarivo over the weekend, Rajoelina’s government condemned the move as an “illegal seizure of power.” A video message from CAPSAT officers claimed they now direct all branches of the military, but other units have yet to confirm alignment. With at least 22 deaths reported and the Senate, business elite, and cabinet increasingly under fire, Rajoelina’s grip appears to be weakening. His recent appointment of a military general as prime minister failed to quell public anger. “We, who wear the uniform, are rising for the people,” said a CAPSAT colonel. As the protests grow and the army’s stance remains uncertain, the nation watches anxiously, unsure whether it stands on the brink of reform — or repeat revolution.
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