Antananarivo, Oct 12 A mutinied army unit declared Sunday that it was taking control of all Madagascar military forces as President Andry Rajoelina said an “attempt to seize power illegally” was under way.
The CAPSAT contingent of administrative and technical officers joined thousands of protesters in the city centre on Saturday in a major shift in a more than two-week anti-government protest movement.
The unit had earlier declared that it would “refuse orders to shoot” and criticised the gendarmerie, who have been accused of using heavy-handed tactics against protesters, causing several deaths.
“From now on, all orders of the Malagasy army — whether land, air or the navy — will originate from CAPSAT headquarters,” the CAPSAT officers claimed in a video statement.
There was no immediate response from other units or the military command.
Soldiers from the unit clashed with gendarmes outside a barracks on Saturday and rode into the city on army vehicles to join the demonstrators, who welcomed them with jubilation and calls for Rajoelina to resign.
The president released a statement Sunday saying “an attempt to seize power illegally and by force, contrary to the Constitution and to democratic principles, is currently under way.”
“Dialogue is the only way forward and the only solution to the crisis currently facing the country,” he said, calling for “unity”.
