On October 14, 130 of the 163 parliamentarians voted to oust Rajoelina and the military took power after weeks of protests. Mostly young demonstrators demanded the then president resign due to corruption and lack of basic facilities. The protests escalated when the military joined them.
After Gen Z protests: Madagascar parliament votes out president, army takes over
According to the junta, Rajoelina lost his nationality because he had also taken French nationality in 2014. The former president fled a week earlier, when an army colonel said he would ignore orders to suppress the protests. Rajoelina stated that he was in hiding for security reasons, without saying where he was staying.
President of Madagascar Andry Rajoelina heads to France after ongoing youth protests
Three days after Rajoelina’s ouster, Madagascar’s military leader Michael Randrianirina was sworn in as president. There has been a lot of international criticism of the takeover. UN Secretary General António Guterres spoke of an unconstitutional change of government and called for the “restoration of constitutional order and the rule of law.” The African Union has suspended Madagascar.