The military leadership under Colonel Michael Randrianirina has promised elections within two years after President Andry Rajoelina was impeached following weeks of popular demonstrations. The international community voiced alarm, with the United Nations censuring what it called an ‘unconstitutional’ takeover. The poor Indian Ocean nation was plunged into its worst political upheaval in years after the CAPSAT elite military unit took power moments after parliament voted to impeach Rajoelina on Tuesday.

The 51-year-old president, in power since 2009, appeared to have fled the country as street protests escalated. Madagascar is the latest of several former French colonies to have fallen under military control since 2020, after coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Gabon and Guinea. CAPSAT commander Randrianirina will be sworn in as transitional president during a "solemn hearing" of the country's top court on Friday, the new leadership said Wednesday. It made the announcement in a statement attributed to the "Presidential Council for the Refoundation of the Republic of Madagascar" and signed by Randrianirina himself. The colonel has said the transition to civilian leadership would take under two years and include the restructuring of major institutions. (Bssnews)