By Obinna Uballa
Madagascar plunged deeper into political turmoil on Sunday after a renegade army unit declared it had seized control of all military forces in the country, prompting President Andry Rajoelina to accuse the group of attempting to “seize power illegally and by force.”
Reports said the mutinous CAPSAT contingent, a corps of administrative and technical officers, joined thousands of anti-government protesters in the capital, Antananarivo, on Saturday, marking a dramatic escalation in the two-week wave of demonstrations over worsening living conditions and governance failures.
“From now on, all orders of the Malagasy army – whether land, air or sea – will originate from CAPSAT headquarters,” officers of the mutinied unit announced in a video statement circulated on Sunday.
The move followed the unit’s earlier declaration that it would “refuse orders to shoot” at protesters, criticizing the gendarmerie for alleged heavy-handed crackdowns that have left several people dead.
On Saturday, soldiers from the CAPSAT contingent reportedly clashed with gendarmes outside a barracks before driving into the city on army trucks to join jubilant demonstrators demanding Rajoelina’s resignation.
President Rajoelina, in a televised address Sunday, condemned the development as an unlawful power grab and urged calm.
“An attempt to seize power illegally and by force, contrary to the Constitution and to democratic principles, is currently underway,” he said. “Dialogue is the only way forward and the only solution to the crisis currently facing the country.”
The gendarmerie, in a separate video statement, admitted to “faults and excesses” in its handling of the protests and appealed for unity within the security forces.
“We are here to protect, not to terrorise,” the officers said, adding that “from now on, all orders will come solely from the gendarmerie’s headquarters.”
Saturday’s demonstration in Antananarivo was among the largest since the protest movement erupted on September 25, fueled by anger over chronic power and water shortages and deepening economic hardship, reports said.
The government, in a statement on Sunday said President Rajoelina “remains in the country” and continues to oversee national affairs. Newly appointed Prime Minister meanwhile, said the administration was “standing strong” and “ready to collaborate and listen.”
The crisis bears echoes of 2009, when a mutiny at the same Soanierana military base led to the overthrow of then-president Marc Ravalomanana and propelled a younger Rajoelina to power.
The United Nations estimates that at least 22 people have been killed since the protests began, including some allegedly shot by security forces and others caught in looting-related violence. Rajoelina, however, disputes the figures, saying last week that only 12 “looters and vandals” had died.
Local media reported two more deaths and 26 injuries during Saturday’s clashes, while the CAPSAT unit said one of its soldiers was fatally shot by gendarmes.
