After army coup, Madagascar's Gen Z demand a voice in shaping what comes next

Residents and protesters cheer and hold banners as they gather for a civil society rally outside City Hall in Antananarivo, on October 13, 2025. (AFP)

Audio By Vocalize
When an elite army colonel joined Madagascar's Gen Z
protests earlier this month, forcing the president to flee the country,
youth-movement leader Olivia Rafetison was happy to have the protection of men
with guns, after weeks of state repression.
"He said: 'we're for the people, we'll help you, we are
by your side'. Malagasy were coming together for the same cause," she
said, describing the protests against electricity and water shortages that
morphed into an uprising against President Andry Rajeolina.
Days later, Colonel Michael Randrianirina said the army was
in charge.
"It went from 'protecting the people' to taking
power," Rafetison, 28, told Reuters in downtown Antananarivo. "I'm
not saying I'm against it ... But I am a little conflicted."
Randrianirina was
sworn in as president on Friday, just three days after taking control
of the island nation in the wake of the demonstrations that forced out his
predecessor.
He has said the military will rule alongside a civilian
government for up to two years before organising new elections.
Rafetison, leader of Movement Gen Z Collective, a coalition
of several of the protest groups, is not the only participant in the uprising
to feel ambivalent about a man in uniform filling the power vacuum left by
Rajeolina's hasty exit. Many wonder if their concerns will be heeded or, as in
the past, ignored.
On the night of the coup, Randrianirina received Rafetison
and other prominent Gen Z figures. "He said 'we're listening to
you,'" she said, but the soldiers were all tired and soon ended the
conversation, suggesting they talk more at a later date.
"I hope they follow up," she said. "Because
this isn't the end of the struggle: we're really fighting for system change,
not to swap one president for another."
Madagascar's young population, averaging just 19, faces a
litany of problems that are largely the result of mismanagement by a succession
of older men. Even Rajeolina, at 34 the world's youngest president when he came
to power in a 2009 coup, disappointed the youth by failing to create prosperity
or deliver basic services by the time he was ousted in his 50s.
Since independence from France in 1960 until 2020, GDP per
capita nearly halved, World Bank data shows, making it one of few nations that
became worse off in that time.
In that time, Madagascar experienced several periods of
military-led or military-dominated government, often with disastrous results
for the economy.
Today, Antananarivo's winding, cobbled streets are bestrewn
with beggars and hawkers eking out a living selling whatever they can.
"Everyone is taking advantage of the system, they don't
care. Even if the population dies of hunger, it's nothing (to them),"
Alicia Andriana, from the Association of Dynamic Malagasy Students
(Assedu-Mada), said in a downtown nightclub that doubles up as a meeting centre
for Gen Z movements by day.
Andriana said she was thankful for the army intervention.
But asked if she was happy with the end result, she replied:
"No, not really. Not yet, because we don't have what we asked for. We
asked for water, electricity, for every family to have enough to eat," she
said, adding that the coup leaders needed to "put in place a new system
that can change life in Madagascar".
Some elements of Madagascar's fragmented Gen Z movement are
uneasier at the prospect of military rule. A Facebook group called Gen-Z Tonga
Saina, with 18,000 members, warned late on Thursday it thought the military was
compromised and "protects the interests of the system, not the
people."
Ketakandriana Rafitoson, Vice Chair of Transparency
International, which played a role in organising some of the initial protests,
and herself Malagasy, told Reuters coups are always undesirable for democracy
but in this case, there was "an apparent unwillingness of political
leaders to address grievances," followed by violent repression and then a
president fleeing with no credible civilian replacement.
"An organised armed unit was in practice the only
institution able, quickly, to stop the bloodshed and reopen civic space,"
she said.
Still, Madagascar’s newly energized youth activists won’t
wait forever for the civic space they fought to reclaim.
"We can't be certain they (the military government)
will listen, but we can hope," 23-year-old Gen Z campaign spokesperson
Tolotra Andrianirina told Reuters.
"We'll get back on the streets," he said. "We did it once; we can do it again, if necessary".
Leave a Comment