Demonstrators march alongside regiment, who earlier in the day said they would not fire on the crowds
Thousands of protesters against Madagascar’s president were joined on the streets of the capital on Saturday afternoon by soldiers from an elite army unit, who earlier in the day said they would not fire on demonstrators.
Protesters marched alongside soldiers from the Capsat unit, who drove armoured vehicles, some waving Madagascar flags, from their base in Soanierana in the south of Antananarivo.
A Capsat leader, Lylison René de Rolland, then addressed the cheering crowds in front of the city hall in 13 May Square, which protesters had previously been prevented from reaching. Capsat soldiers brought the current president, Andry Rajoelina, to power in a coup in 2009.
The soldiers’ intervention ratcheted up pressure on Rajoelina, who demonstrators have been demanding stand down. The youth-led protests broke out on 25 September, initially over water and electricity cuts. However, they quickly widened into calls for a complete overhaul of the political system, with the gen Z protesters not placated by Rajoelina firing his government last week.
