Anti-government protest site in Madagascar on the 14th (local time). Reuters Yonhap News. 

Madagascar's parliament voted to impeach President Andry Rajoelina on the 14th (local time), following over two weeks of "Gen Z protests."

Immediately after the parliament's impeachment vote, the military, which had joined the anti-government protests, declared it had seized power and ordered the dissolution of all state institutions except for parliament, AFP and Reuters reported.

Parliament rejected President Rajoelina's decree to dissolve parliament, voting to impeach him, citing his abandonment of duties on that day, with 130 votes in favor out of a total of 163 seats. This far exceeded the two-thirds majority required for impeachment.

Following the impeachment vote, Colonel Michel Andrianaivorina of CAPSAT (Corps des Officiers de Gendarmerie, Armée, Police et Service de Santé), an elite military organization composed of administrative and technical officers from the army, who declared his unit's support for the protestors on the 11th, announced on state radio, "We have taken power." He added that all state institutions, except for the parliament that voted for impeachment, would be dissolved.

With parliament's impeachment of the president and the declaration of military rule, the chaos in Madagascar's political scene, which has escalated since the military and police joined the anti-government protests, is expected to continue for the time being.

In Madagascar, protests led by Gen Z (born in the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s) began on the 25th of last month in several cities, including the capital Antananarivo, to protest frequent water and power outages.

President Rajoelina attempted to resolve the situation by dismissing the entire cabinet on the 29th of last month, but as discontent among the youth did not subside, the protests escalated into nationwide anti-government demonstrations demanding the president's resignation.

Crucially, on the 11th, during a protest, the CAPSAT unit in Soanierana, on the outskirts of the capital Antananarivo, declared it would "refuse to obey orders to shoot" and joined the protestors.

The following day, the 12th, President Rajoelina claimed that an illegal coup attempt was underway. Officers from the CAPSAT unit denied the coup claims on the same day, but stated they had seized control of the military.

Following the CAPSAT unit, the gendarmerie and police also successively declared their support for the protestors. The previous night, President Rajoelina, in a televised address to the nation via Facebook, stated he had "retreated to a safe place to protect his life" and refused to resign, vowing to resolve the crisis according to the constitution. His whereabouts are currently unknown.

However, in just one day, he was effectively ousted by parliament's impeachment vote and the declaration of military rule. Nineteen days after the Gen Z protests began, Madagascar has become the second country globally, after Nepal, where Gen Z protests have brought down the government. President Rajoelina, who led anti-government protests that ousted President Marc Ravalomanana in 2009 and became interim head of government, did not run in the 2013 presidential election but returned to power after winning the presidency in 2018 and was re-elected in 2023. However, even the CAPSAT unit, which aided his regime change in 2009, turned against him, leading to his resignation less than two years into his second term.

Reuters had previously reported, citing opposition officials, military sources, and diplomats, that President Rajoelina had fled the country on a French military aircraft on the 12th.

Madagascar, known for its ecological diversity and as the world's largest vanilla producer, has experienced ongoing political instability since gaining independence from France in 1960. According to the World Bank, it is one of the world's poorest countries, with approximately 75% of its population living below the poverty line as of 2022.

The Hankyoreh·Yonhap News