A protester uses a slingshot to hurl stones at Malagasy riot police during a demonstration against frequent power outages and water shortages, near the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar on September 29, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina fired the prime minister and the rest of his government on Monday (September 29, 2025) in response to days of deadly Gen Z-led protests in the Indian Ocean island over the failure of the electricity and water supplies.Mr. Rajoelina said in a speech on national television that Prime Minister Christian Ntsay and other government officials would stay on an interim basis until a new government is formed.He invited applications for government positions and gave a three-day time frame to review proposals for a new prime minister.“Your demands have been heard, and I apologise if there are members of the government who have not done the work that the people expected,” Mr. Rajoelina said.The protesters had called for the resignation of both Mr. Ntsay and Mr. Rajoelina, but the President gave no indication that he would step down.The protests against chronic electricity and water cuts began on Thursday (September 25, 2025) and drew thousands onto the streets, prompting the government to order nighttime curfews in the capital, Antananarivo, and other major cities.The demonstrations gathered momentum on social media and have mirrored recent youth-led anti-government protests in Nepal and Kenya.The United Nations human rights office said earlier Monday that 22 people had been killed in clashes surrounding the protests. The U.N. agency blamed a “violent response” by security forces. More than 100 people also have been injured in the protests, the agency said.Protesters and bystanders were killed by security forces, but some of the deaths also came in violence and looting by gangs not associated with the protesters, the UN rights office said in a statement.U.N. high commissioner for human rights Volker Turk was shocked “at the violent response by security forces to the ongoing protests in Madagascar,” the U.N. rights office said.It said the protests began peacefully on Thursday, “but the security forces intervened with unnecessary force, lobbing tear gas and beating and arresting protesters. Some officers also used live ammunition.” Madagascar Foreign Minister Rasata Rafaravavitafika disputed the UN’s death toll in a statement, saying “the government strongly denies” that 22 people had died. Yet Madagascar authorities have not given any figures of their own for how many people died or were injured.
