Madagascar’s military has taken charge of the Indian Ocean island as violent protests continue across the country.
Col. Michael Randrianirina stated this on Tuesday, after President Andry Rajoelina fled abroad during a standoff with youth-led protesters and security forces.
“We have taken the power,” the army colonel, who led a mutiny of soldiers joining anti-government Gen Z demonstrators, said on national radio on Tuesday.
Newspot reports that the President fled the country when the protests turned deadly.
According to CNN, Randrianirina also stated that the military was dissolving all institutions except the lower house of parliament or National Assembly, which voted to impeach Rajoelina minutes earlier.
In a day of turmoil for the nation off east Africa, the 51-year-old leader had sought to dissolve the assembly by decree.
Despite flying out on a French military jet, the country’s president is refusing to step down in defiance of weeks of Gen-Z protests demanding his resignation.
