Madagascar: A Year After Madagascar's Gen Z Protests and Rajoelina's Ouster, Little Promised Change

What the report says

A year after Madagascar’s youth-led protests helped force then-president Andry Rajoelina to leave office, the country’s military-backed transition has not yet delivered the political reset it promised, according to Radio France Internationale, distributed by AllAfrica. The unrest began amid chronic shortages of water and electricity and grew over 18 days before Rajoelina fled the country aboard a French military aircraft on 12 October 2025.

The military then installed Colonel Michael Randrianirina, commander of the Capsat unit, as “President of the Refoundation of the Republic of Madagascar.” The transitional authorities said they would organize elections within two years and push ahead with a new constitutional framework. However, young activists who led the demonstrations say their core demands remain unmet and that the expected reforms have not materialized.

Rajoelina is reported to be living mostly in exile in Dubai. The article says many of his former parliamentary allies have since switched sides, while some supporters have left the country or been detained. It also notes that he has not faced prosecution so far, despite findings by Madagascar’s Court of Accounts about public resources being diverted to benefit his inner circle.

The reported stalemate matters because the transition was presented as a break with the political system that the protesters rejected, yet constitutional work and election planning remain unfinished. The military-backed authorities have tied the next steps to a new constitution and presidential elections scheduled for late 2027, with regional pressure for a return to constitutional order.