Madagascar: The National Assembly Votes to Remove the President

The National Assembly of Madagascar voted on Tuesday to remove President Andry Rajoelina, who has been the subject of rumors about fleeing the country and had issued a decree to dissolve the Assembly just hours earlier.

Facing street protests and hiding in an undisclosed location, Rajoelina condemned the vote as a "meeting devoid of any legal basis" through presidential communications, while the opposition deems the dissolution illegal. A total of 130 out of 163 deputies, more than the two-thirds majority required, voted in favor of the president's removal, which still needs to be formally declared by the Constitutional High Court.