Madagascar protesters return to streets despite move to dissolve government

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) -Security forces fired teargas to disperse hundreds of young protesters in Madagascar’s capital who took to the streets again on Tuesday despite the president’s decision to partly yield to their demands by dissolving the government.

Andry Rajoelina went on state television late on Monday and said he wanted to create room for dialogue with young people pressing for access to water and an end to power cuts, and promised measures to support businesses affected by looting.

In a message on the protest movement’s Facebook page, some of the protest organisers said they were disappointed by his speech and demanded an apology from him and the now dismissed prime minister, as well as the firing of Antananarivo’s administrator.

Others went further, waving placards with messages such as “We need water, we need electricity, Rajoelina out”, footage of protesters marching in the capital Antananarivo, broadcast on the privately owned broadcaster Real TV Madagasikara, showed.

Protesters also marched in the city of Fenoarivo, a small town 20 km (12 miles) west of the capital, footage from Real TV showed.

Rallies were reported in Mahajanga, 510 km (315 miles) northwest of Antananarivo, and in Diego Suarez, 950 km (590 miles) north of the capital, privately owned 2424.MG and Fitaproduction reported.

A government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday’s protest.

The United Nations says at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in protests that began last week and are now in the fourth day.

The ministry of foreign affairs has rejected the casualty figures shared by the U.N., saying the data did not come from competent national authorities and were based on rumours or misinformation.

Inspired by the so-called youth-led “Gen Z” protests in Kenya and Nepal, the four days of demonstrations have been the largest the Indian Ocean island has seen in years, and the most serious challenge Rajoelina has faced since his re-election in 2023.

Rajoelina first came to power in a 2009 coup. He stepped down in 2014 but became president again after winning the 2018 election, and secured a third term in a December 2023 poll that his challengers said was marred by irregularities.

In Monday’s and last week’s protests, the demonstrators adapted a flag used in Nepal, where protesters forced the prime minister to resign this month.

They have also used similar online tactics to organise rallies as protesters did last year in Kenya, where the government scrapped proposed tax legislation.

(Reporting by Lovasoa Rabary; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Ammu Kannampilly and Alison Williams)