Malagasy Colonel Michael Randrianirina (C) stands with other members of his unit, after reading out a statement announcing that his unit is taking power, in front of the presidential palace in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on October 14, 2025. LUIS TATO / AFP
An elite military unit told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that it had taken power in Madagascar on Tuesday, October 14, after the national assembly voted to impeach President Andry Rajoelina for desertion of duty. "We have taken power," Colonel Michael Randrianirina, head of the CAPSAT military unit, told Agence France-Presse, after reading out a statement at a government building in the capital.
The unit will set up a committee composed of officers from the army, gendarmerie and national police, he said. "Perhaps in time it will include senior civilian advisers. It is this committee that will carry out the work of the presidency," Randrianirina said in his statement. "At the same time, after a few days, we will set up a civilian government," he said.
CAPSAT played a major role in the 2009 coup that first brought Rajoelina to power. The 51-year-old president had refused mounting demands to step down, and had gone into hiding after weeks of anti-government street demonstrations in the island nation.
