Madagascar's president, the latest victim of the Gen Z protests

BarcelonaCoup d'état in Madagascar. Soldiers from an elite unit announced Tuesday that they were assuming political control of the island, following weeks of demonstrations that ended with the flight of President Andry Rajoelina. "We have taken power," Colonel Michael Randrianirina said on national radio. He had led the mutiny of soldiers who this weekend joined the thousands of young Gen Z protesters who led the anti-government protests.

CAPSAT, the acronym for the military corps, announced Tuesday the suspension of the constitution and stated that the seizure of power should last a maximum of two years to carry out a political transition. The High Constitutional Court, in fact, has urged the coup leader, Colonel Michael Randrianirina, to assume the functions of head of state.

President Rajoelina announced Monday night that he had fled and was hiding in a "safe place" to protect himself from threats to his life, after weeks of protests against corruption and his government. Despite the insistence of protesters demanding his resignation for his failure to end the power and water shortages that have plagued the country for years, the leader had refused to resign, arguing that he would stay in power to save the deeply impoverished country.

"To preserve my physical integrity and avoid an altercation between the Malagasy armed forces, I had to go to a safe place," Rajoelina said in a video posted on the presidential Facebook page, without specifying where that place was or indicating that he had resigned. "I have a mission: to find a solution. And since the problem is electricity, I will be in charge of receiving the generators that we will then send to Madagascar," the president emphasized, implying that he is out of the country. In fact, sources from the Reuters agency indicate that the leader fled the Indian Ocean island aboard a French military plane.

This Tuesday morning, hours after the police also joined the protests led by the youth, the president announced that he was dissolving Parliament and asserted that this decision was "necessary to restore order" in Madagascar. However, the deputies in the chamber considered the dissolution of the chamber to be illegal and met to vote on the president's dismissal, which was approved by a large majority.

In similar moves to those that have been seen in recent months in Nepal or Morocco, Gen Z protests against the Malagasy president erupted in this former French colony on September 25. The trigger was water and electricity shortages, but they quickly escalated with broader demands such as an end to corruption and access to basic services. This morning, the streets of Antananarivo were packed with protesters dancing, singing, and shouting in celebration of the escape of Rajoelina, whom they accuse of being a French puppet. Many waved the pirate flag from the manga. One Piece, which is already characteristic of Gen Z protests around the world.

From encouraging young people to turning them against

Rajoelina's fall was as swift as his rise. His popularity as a DJ (his name was TGV, evoking the dynamism of the French high-speed train) and as a radio station owner catapulted him to become the youngest head of state in the world at 34, the same age he was when he came to power at the time, in 2009. But his charisma managed to seduce young people frustrated by poverty and corruption, who united in a popular revolt. In fact, Rajoelina won the mayoral election in the capital, Antanarivo, in 2007, under the acronym of the party he had created, the Determined Young Malgaixos. Now, the same frustration of young people has been the catalyst for protests against the political elites that have forced Rajoelina to flee 16 years later.