An elite military unit that backed youth-led anti-government street protests said Tuesday it had taken power in Madagascar after the national assembly voted to impeach president Andry Rajoelina.
Rajoelina, who was in hiding reportedly out of the country, had refused growing demands to step down after demonstrations started on September 25 won the backing of the CAPSAT military unit at the weekend.
CAPSAT commander Colonel Michael Randrianirina read out a statement聽 at the presidential palace saying the unit would set up a governing committee composed of officers from the army, gendarmerie and national police.
鈥楶erhaps in time it will include senior civilian advisers. It is this committee that will carry out the work of the presidency,鈥� Randrianirina said.
鈥楢t the same time, after a few days, we will set up a civilian government,鈥� he said.
鈥榃e have taken power,鈥� he confirmed to AFP afterwards.
After the announcement, officers from the unit rolled through the capital in armoured Humvees and pick-up trucks, AFP journalists saw.
Crowds lined the pavements, cheering and waving as they passed, while some followed the convoy in their own cars, honking their horns in a victory lap through a city聽still聽on聽edge.
The near-daily protests, led by a youth movement called Gen Z, took a turn at the weekend when CAPSAT 鈥� which played a major role in the 2009 coup that first brought Rajoelina to power 鈥� joined the demonstrators.
They were followed by the gendarmerie paramilitary police force, which admitted to 鈥榝aults and excesses鈥� in their response to the demonstrations.
Parliamentarians on Tuesday pushed ahead with the impeachment vote despite Rajoelina鈥檚 attempt to block it by issuing a decree hours earlier to dissolve the national assembly.
The impeachment vote passed with 130 votes in favour 鈥� well above the two-thirds constitutional threshold required in the 163-member chamber.
In a statement as voting was under way, the presidency said the session was 鈥榙evoid of any legal basis鈥�.
The youth-led protests were ignited by anger over power and water shortages before developing into demonstrations against the president and ruling elite.
After reports that he had left the country with the assistance of France, Rajoelina said in a national address late Monday that he was in a 鈥榮afe place to protect my life鈥� but did not reveal his location.
The 51-year-old made clear he would not step down, saying he was 鈥榦n a mission to find solutions鈥� to the political crisis and would not let the impoverished Indian Ocean nation 鈥榙estroy itself鈥�.
Civil servants and trade unionists joined the large crowd in the capital in a fresh demonstration demanding that Rajoelina quit and also expressing anger at reports of French involvement in helping him leave the country.
Before Monday鈥檚 address, Rajoelina had not appeared in public since Wednesday when he pledged at a public meeting to address complaints against his government.
The United Nations has said at least 22 people were killed in the first days of the protests, some by security forces and others in violence sparked by criminal gangs and looters.
Rajoelina later disputed the toll, saying there were 鈥�12 confirmed deaths and all of these individuals were looters and vandals鈥�.
To try to defuse the protests, Rajoelina sacked his entire government last month. Meeting one of the demands of the protesters, the president of the Senate was replaced.
Madagascar has had a turbulent political history since the country聽off the east coast of Africa gained independence from France in 1960.
