An attempted coup is under way in the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, the country’s president says, a day after members of an elite army unit were seen joining youth-led protests against the government.
Madagascar has been shaken by three weeks of the most significant unrest in years in the nation.
The protests are led by a group calling itself “Gen Z Madagascar” and the United Nations says the demonstrations have left 22 people dead and dozens injured. The government has disputed this number.
Protesters are tear-gassed during a protest calling for the president to step down in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on Thursday, October 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Joe)
A statement from President Andry Rajoelina’s office said it “wishes to inform the nation and the international community that an attempt to seize power illegally and by force” has been “initiated”.
“In view of the extreme gravity of this situation, the president of the republic … strongly condemns this attempt at destabilisation and calls upon all forces of the nation to unite in defence of constitutional order and national sovereignty,” Rajoelina’s office said on Sunday.
The statement did not immediately identify who was attempting to overthrow the government, but members of the elite CAPSAT military unit joined youth-led protests against Rajoelina on Saturday and called for the president and other government officials to step down.
“Do we call this a coup? I don’t know yet,” Colonel Michael Randrianirina of the CAPSAT unit had said on Saturday, addressing crowds of protesters from an armoured vehicle.
The protests on Saturday were among the largest since the unrest began.
Madagascar, a large island of 31 million people off the east coast of Africa, has had several leaders removed in coups since it gained independence from France in 1960. Rajoelina himself first came to power as the leader of a transitional government following a 2009 military-backed coup.
An protester watches police near burning barricades during a protest calling for the president to step down in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on Thursday, October 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Joe)
Street vendors pull a cart filled with their merchandise as police clash with demonstrators during a protest calling for the president to step down in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on Thursday, October 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Joe)
An uprising by the CAPSAT unit was pivotal in that 2009 coup that brought Rajoelina to power. He was elected president in 2018 and reelected in 2023, a vote boycotted by opposition parties.
The youth-led protests against service failures and alleged government corruption and nepotism first erupted on September 25. The protests began over electricity and water outages but have snowballed into larger dissatisfaction with the government and the leadership of Rajoelina.
Protesters have brought up a range of issues, including poverty and the cost of living, access to tertiary education, and alleged corruption and embezzlement of public funds by government officials and their families and associates.
Civic groups and trade unions have joined the protests, which have resulted in nighttime curfews being enforced in the capital, Antananarivo, and other major cities.
Police arrest a demonstrator during a protest calling for president to step down in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on Thursday, October 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Joe)
Police patrol the streets during a protest calling for the president to step down in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on Thursday, October 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Joe)
Rajoelina had attempted to appease the protesters by firing his entire government, including the prime minister, on September 29. But he appointed a military general as the new prime minister and the protesters have not relented.
The Gen Z protesters that inspired the uprising have their own website, Facebook page and other social media channels and have a GoFundMe page to raise money.
They have mobilised over the internet and say they were inspired by other protests that toppled governments in Nepal and Sri Lanka.