Madagascar president warns of coup attempt as more soldiers join protests

[ad_1] ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) -Madagascar's presidency mentioned on Sunday that an try to seize energy by power was underway within the African nation as extra troopers joined a youth-led protest motion that has rocked the previous French colony for greater than two weeks.

Troops from the elite CAPSAT unit that helped President Andry Rajoelina seize energy in a 2009 coup, urged fellow troopers to disobey orders on Saturday and again the youth-led protests, which started on September 25 and pose essentially the most critical problem to Rajoelina's rule since his reelection in 2023.

CAPSAT officers mentioned on Sunday they'd command over the nation's safety operations and would coordinate all branches of the navy from their base on the outskirts of the capital, Antananarivo. They mentioned they'd appointed Basic Demosthene Pikulas as head of the military.

A unit of the paramilitary gendarmerie, which had to this point tackled the protests along with the police, additionally broke ranks with the federal government on Sunday.

"All use of power and any improper behaviour in the direction of our fellow residents are prohibited, because the gendarmerie is a power meant to guard folks and to not defend the pursuits of some people," the Intervention Forces of the Nationwide Gendarmerie mentioned in a press release broadcast on Actual TV.

It mentioned it was coordinating with the CAPSAT headquarters.

The Defence Ministry and the navy basic workers declined to remark.

A Reuters witness noticed three folks injured after photographs had been fired alongside a street to the CAPSAT barracks on Sunday. Different witnesses mentioned there was no signal of ongoing clashes.

In a press release on the presidency's official social media account, Rajoelina's workplace mentioned "an tried unlawful and forcible seizure of energy" was underway, including that the president had urged "dialogue to resolve the disaster".

Rajoelina's whereabouts had been unknown on Sunday, however late on Saturday his workplace mentioned he and the prime minister had been "totally accountable for the nation's affairs".

GEN Z PROTESTERS WANT PRESIDENT TO STEP DOWN

The protests, impressed by Gen Z-led actions in Kenya and Nepal, started over water and electrical energy shortages however have since unfold, with demonstrators calling for Rajoelina to step down, apologise for violence in opposition to protesters, and dissolve the Senate and electoral fee.

Some demonstrators have been sporting T-shirts and flags with the identical image - a cranium with a straw hat from the Japanese manga collection "One Piece" - utilized by youth-led demonstrators in nations together with Indonesia and Peru.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in Antananarivo on Sunday to protest in opposition to the federal government and pay tribute to a slain CAPSAT soldier, whom the military unit mentioned was killed by the gendarmerie on Saturday.

The peaceable gathering was attended by church leaders and opposition politicians, together with former President Marc Ravalomanana, in addition to CAPSAT troops.

Madagascar, a rustic the place the median age is lower than 20, has a inhabitants of about 30 million - three-quarters of whom stay in poverty, in accordance with the World Financial institution.

A video broadcast by native media confirmed dozens of troopers leaving the barracks on Saturday to escort 1000's of protesters into the Might 13 Sq. in Antananarivo, the scene of many political uprisings, which had been closely guarded and off limits through the unrest.

The African Union Fee's chief Mahmoud Ali Youssouf known as for calm and restraint.

Citing the safety scenario on the bottom, Air France-KLM's French division suspended flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport and Antananarivo from October 11 to October 13.