Madagascar: Colonel Randrianirina Set to be Invested as President
Just three days after his military unit took power in Madagascar, Colonel Michaël Randrianirina is set to be inaugurated as the "President of the Reconstruction" of this Indian Ocean island on Friday.
Following the ousting of President Andry Rajoelina, who has left the country, the new strongman of Madagascar, who rejects the label of a coup d'état, is striving to legitimize his rise to power.
In just two years, the 51-year-old military officer has gone from being arrested on suspicion of attempting a coup to an imminent inauguration as the highest officeholder without going through elections.
The ceremony, which will take place in an "atmosphere of sobriety," is scheduled at the Constitutional High Court, which took only a few hours on Tuesday to invite him to "exercise the functions of head of state" after a vote of impeachment against Andry Rajoelina at the National Assembly, previously dissolved by the ousted president.
This commander of the Capsat, a unit that had already played a significant role in the 2009 coup that first brought Andry Rajoelina to power, is set to take an oath in the red-brick walls of the Ambohidahy State Palace, designed in French Art Nouveau architecture. The ceremony is expected to begin at 9:00 AM local time (6:00 AM GMT).
Coincidentally, the building towers over the entrance to the tunnel of the same name. This passage was attempted to be crossed during protests that ignited in the Malagasy capital from September 25, demanding an end to water and electricity cuts and contesting Andry Rajoelina's power.
According to a UN report, at least 22 people were killed and around a hundred injured at the start of the protest movement.
- "Not a coup d'état" -
The men of "Colonel Michaël," as he is affectionately called by the public, condemned Andry Rajoelina's presidency and joined the protesters on Saturday, accompanying them towards the city center.
The final blow came on Tuesday when this former governor of the Androy district in the south of the country announced with his unit that they were "taking power."
"A coup d'état is when soldiers enter the presidential palace with weapons, firing, and there is blood... This is not a coup d'état," he asserts.
Nonetheless, the UN has stated that it "condemns an unconstitutional change of power" just before the swearing-in ceremony. The African Union has suspended the country from its bodies.
"The transition is now underway," noted French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot from Abuja on Thursday, calling for the "full involvement of civilians in the ongoing process" with the "goal" of a "return to legality."
The entourage of ousted President Andry Rajoelina confirmed that he had "left the country" between October 11 and 12 due to "explicit and extremely serious threats (...) against (his) life." According to RFI radio, he was exfiltrated on Sunday by a French military plane.
"We are returning to the law, we respect the law," assured Colonel Michaël Randrianirina on Thursday, while expressing doubts about the possibility of organizing elections within 60 days, as requested by the ruling of the Constitutional High Court.
He stated that the electoral commission and the electoral rolls are "not accepted by everyone," which is why the military had previously announced plans for elections in 18 to 24 months. A "consultation process to find a Prime Minister as soon as possible" is currently underway.
Madagascar, which has a long history of popular uprisings against military-authorized powers, remains one of the poorest countries on the planet. At least 80% of its 32 million inhabitants live on less than 2.80 euros per day, the poverty threshold set by the World Bank.
AFP
