{"id":21161,"date":"2025-10-17T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=21161"},"modified":"2025-10-17T15:46:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:46:41","slug":"from-barracks-to-presidency-madagascar-swears-in-mutiny-leader-democracy-on-hold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/17\/from-barracks-to-presidency-madagascar-swears-in-mutiny-leader-democracy-on-hold\/","title":{"rendered":"From Barracks to Presidency: Madagascar Swears in Mutiny Leader, Democracy on Hold"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (FN)<\/strong> \u2014 Col. Michael Randrianirina was sworn in Friday as Madagascar\u2019s new president, days after the military seized power in the wake of mass anti-government protests that forced former President Andry Rajoelina to flee the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 51-year-old army officer, who led the CAPSAT military unit that defected to the protest movement, pledged sweeping reforms in his inaugural address, promising to restore order and overhaul the country\u2019s political system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday marks a historic turning point for our country,\u201d Randrianirina said, speaking after taking the oath of office in Antananarivo. Dressed in a civilian suit for the ceremony, the former commander vowed to draft a new constitution and electoral law in consultation with civil society, especially youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military takeover was announced on Tuesday, following weeks of protests driven by frustration over chronic electricity outages, economic hardship, and accusations of neglect against Rajoelina\u2019s government. The Constitutional Court backed the military\u2019s intervention, citing the need to prevent further instability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Randrianirina said the army acted to \u201cavoid anarchy and disorder\u201d at the court\u2019s request. \u201cOur main mission is to reform the country\u2019s administrative, socio-economic, and political systems of governance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign delegations from the United States, European Union, Russia, and France attended the inauguration ceremony, signaling cautious engagement despite widespread concern over the legitimacy of the power shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In remarks directed at the international community, Randrianirina said the foreign presence demonstrated \u201crespect for national sovereignty\u201d and invited their support in what he described as a \u201cprocess of national renewal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, critics, including Rajoelina\u2019s allies, have denounced the military\u2019s move as unconstitutional. The former president\u2019s office confirmed Wednesday that he had left the country, reportedly flying first to the French island of R\u00e9union before traveling to Dubai. His current whereabouts remain unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protesters, many of them from a youth-led movement, had clashed with police in recent weeks. Rights groups and opposition figures accused government forces of using excessive force before the CAPSAT unit announced it would no longer carry out orders to suppress demonstrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have called for the return to constitutional order and plan to send fact-finding missions to the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This marks Madagascar\u2019s third military-led transition since independence in 1960, following coups in 1972 and 2009. It is also the latest in a growing list of former French colonies in Africa to experience military takeovers in recent years, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Gabon, and Niger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its wealth of natural resources and unique biodiversity, Madagascar remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than 80% of its 32 million people living in poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside the court, small crowds gathered to witness the event. \u201cWe\u2019re happy to be able to hope for change,\u201d said Faniry Randrianaridoa, a local shopkeeper. \u201cWe hope, but we\u2019ll see. It\u2019s not a whim to want water and electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (FN) \u2014 Col. Michael Randrianirina was sworn in Friday as Madagascar\u2019s new president, days after the military seized power in the wake of mass anti-government protests that forced former President Andry Rajoelina to flee the country. The 51-year-old army officer, who led the CAPSAT military unit that defected to the protest movement, pledged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Newly-Sworn-in-President-of-Madagascar-Michael-Randrianirina.webp?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21164,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21161\/revisions\/21164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}