Madagascar’s President, Andry Rajoelina has dissolved the country’s lower house of parliament amid a military rebellion that led him to flee the country.
According to a statement posted on the Madagascar presidency’s Facebook page, Rajoelina issued a decree for the National Assembly to be dissolved immediately.
His move to dissolve the National Assembly came while lawmakers were meeting to discuss possible impeachment proceedings to remove Rajoelina as President. By dissolving the National Assembly, Rajoelina effectively blocked any impeachment proceedings.
The decree by the 51-year-old Rajoelina escalates a standoff with youth-led protesters and the military. It also deepens the political crisis in Madagascar, an island country of 31 million people off the east coast of Africa.
Rajoelina has faced pressure to resign from weeks of anti-government protests led by Gen Z groups.
Rajoelina’s whereabouts are unknown after an elite military unit joined youth-led anti-government protests over the weekend and called for him to step down in an apparent coup attempt.
In a defiant address to the nation from an undisclosed location on Monday, Rajoelina refused to step down despite pressure from weeks of Gen Z protests demanding his resignation and widespread defections in the army.
The 51-year-old has faced weeks of gen Z-led anti-government protests, which reached a pivotal point on Saturday when an elite military unit joined the protests and called for the President and other Ministers to step down.
That prompted Rajoelina to say that an illegal attempt to seize power was under way in the Indian Ocean island and to leave the country.
Rajoelina was first President from 2009 to 2014 before returning to power in 2023. He was increasingly isolated after losing the support of a key army unit that joined thousands of youths activists known as “Gen Z Madagascar” to protest against corruption and poverty. The movement had earlier turned down an invitation to meet him for dialogue and demanded his resignation.
Among the demonstrators were soldiers from the elite CAPSAT unit, which played a major role in the 2009 coup during Rajoelina’s rise to the presidency after mass protests forced his predecessor Marc Ravalomanana out of power.
Also present were gendarmerie officers, accused of using heavy-handed tactics during the near-daily protests over more than two weeks. They admitted in a video statement to “faults and excesses” in their response.
According to the UN, at least 22 people were killed in the first days by security forces and others in violence sparked by criminal gangs and looters. However, Rajoelina had disputed the toll, saying last week that there were “12 confirmed deaths and all of these individuals were looters and vandals.”
The showdown began after the arrest of two politicians on September 19, 2025, accused of planning a protest against the country’s chronic power and water outages.
Rajoelina Flees Madagascar In Fear For His Life
Meanwhile, Madagascar’s President, Andry Rajoelina, said in his video address that he had fled the country in fear for his life after a military rebellion.“I was forced to find a safe place to protect my life,” Rajoelina said.
His late-night speech was meant to be shown on Madagascar television but was delayed for hours after soldiers attempted to take control of the state broadcaster buildings, according to the President’s office.
The speech was ultimately broadcast on the presidency’s official Facebook page but not on national TV.
They were Rajoelina’s first public comments since the CAPSAT military unit turned against his government in an apparent coup and joined thousands of protesters rallying in a main square in the capital, Antananarivo, over the weekend.
Rajoelina called for dialogue “to find a way out of this situation” and said the constitution should be respected.
He did not say how he had left Madagascar or where he was, but a report claimed he had been flown out of the country on a French military plane. A French foreign ministry spokesperson declined to comment on that report.
