Madagascar has sworn in an army colonel as President, just days after a military takeover on the back of a popular rebellion that sent President Andry Rajoelina fleeing into exile.
The African island nation’s High Constitutional Court yesterday formalised the appointment of Colonel Michael Randrianirina in a ceremony, crowning a tumultuous week in which President Rajoelina was impeached for desertion of duty on Tuesday, with the military stepping in.
Mass demonstrations in recent weeks over power and water shortages turned deadly, with the United Nations reporting that at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 others were injured. The UN has condemned the military takeover as an unconstitutional change of government. Madagascar has been suspended from the African Union following the coup.
The ceremony was attended by military officers, politicians, representatives of the Gen Z youth-led protest movement and several foreign delegations, including from the United States, the European Union, Russia and France.
The 51-year-old commander of the CAPSAT unit has pledged elections in 18 to 24 months and told local media that consultations were under way to appoint a consensus Prime Minister.
The East African country has seen several coups since it gained independence in 1960, including the one that first brought Rajoelina to power as a transitional president in 2009.
The island nation in the Indian Ocean, situated off Africa’s east coast has around 30 million people. Madagascar is widely known as the world’s largest vanilla provider and the home of the stripy-tailed primates lemurs.
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