- Joined
- Apr 9, 2019
- Messages
- 299
- Points
- 133
A new development in the ongoing Malagasy crisis occurred last Saturday, when officers from forces garrisoned in Antatanarivo, the capital city, joined the protests that had been ongoing for several weeks now, over power and water cuts happening in the country. Of note, too, 80% of the people there live with less than 3$ a day, far below the UN poverty threshold...
Taking notice of the situation, President Andry Rajoelina had just dismissed the government and named a new one, mostly centered around the Army's Chief of Staff, General Ruphin Fortunat Zafisambo, with apparently a mandate to restore order at all costs. Official figures themselves acknowledge 12 dead killed in the protests, opposition,'s ones give 22. This is why the CAPSAT unit (Corps d’armée des personnels et des services administratifs et techniques, meaning technical and support services, a bit weird...) appointed - by their very own selves - General Démosthène Pikulas as the new chief of Staff, and called soldiers to disobey orders, refuse to shoot at protesters, and join them. That vezry same CAPSAT, by the way, had played a pivotal role in the riots that brought that very same Rajoelina to power in 2009.
Rajoelina, who was rumored yesterday to have fled the country, is apparently still in the country. What will in the decide of tyhe situation will be which way te loyalties of the main part of the army will go. Hopefully, without a full-fledged civil war in a country I know well a,d love, as my wife comes from there (and we have family there too, so yes, I'm worried).
https://www.cnews.fr/monde/2025-10-...-de-la-tentative-de-prise-de-pouvoir-en-cours
