ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — President of Madagascar Andriy Rajoelina The House of Representatives was dissolved on Tuesday as a military revolt deepens the political crisis in the Indian Ocean nation. flee abroad And hide.
Rajoelina ordered the immediate dissolution of parliament, according to a statement posted on the Facebook page of Madagascar’s presidential office.
Rajoelina’s whereabouts have been unknown since elite military forces joined youth-led anti-government demonstrations over the weekend and demanded that she step down. A clear coup attempt. In a speech broadcast on social media on Monday night, the president said he feared for his life and left the country in search of a “safe place.” He didn’t say where he was.
His move to dissolve parliament was made during a meeting of parliamentarians discussing the possibility of impeachment proceedings to remove Rajoelina from office as president. Rajoelina effectively blocked impeachment proceedings by dissolving parliament.
Madagascar, which has a history of military-backed coups, is in the midst of its worst political crisis since 2009, when Rajoelina himself first came to power after a coup as leader of a transitional government.
Rajoelina is under pressure to resign Weeks of anti-government protests Led by the Generation Z group, they have strongly criticized chronic water and power outages, poverty, and allegations of corruption and embezzlement of public funds by government officials, their families, and related parties.
Protesters say: Inspired by other Gen Z-led movements He overthrew the leaders of Nepal and Sri Lanka.
The protests began last month, but reached a turning point on Saturday. Soldiers from the elite CAPSAT military unit took part in protests against Rajoelina and calling for his resignation and the resignation of government ministers.
The unit oversees all of Madagascar’s armed forces, and a new head of the military and gendarmerie security forces has been appointed.
Rajoelina said there was an “illegal and violent attempt to seize power.”
Speaking late on Monday at a secret location, Rajoelina called for dialogue “to find a way out of this situation” and pushed back against calls for his resignation, saying the constitution must be respected. He was first elected president in 2018 and re-elected in 2023 following a boycott by opposition parties.
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