Madagascar’s president, Andry Rajoelina, has dismissed his government after days of deadly protests led by young people demanding an end to crippling water and power shortages.
“We acknowledge and apologise if members of the government have not carried out the tasks assigned to them,” Rajoelina said in a televised address on Monday. He confirmed that the prime minister and cabinet had been relieved of their duties, and that a new government would be formed within days.
The demonstrations, dubbed the “Gen Z protests,” began last Thursday in Antananarivo under the rallying cry: “We want to live, not survive.” The movement has since spread to at least eight cities.
According to the United Nations, security forces used excessive force to disperse crowds, leaving at least 22 people dead and more than 100 injured. “I am shocked by the violent crackdown,” said Volker Türk, the UN’s human rights chief. “I urge the security forces to desist from the use of unnecessary and disproportionate force and to immediately release all arbitrarily detained protesters.”
Madagascar’s foreign ministry has rejected the UN’s figures, calling them “based on rumours or misinformation.” Officials have not offered their own casualty count.
Witnesses reported police firing tear gas, rubber bullets, and in some cases live rounds. A dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed in Antananarivo after incidents of looting and vandalism. The UN said victims included both demonstrators and bystanders, along with others caught up in violence carried out by criminal gangs not linked to the protests.
The unrest marks the most serious challenge to Rajoelina since his re-election in 2023. Just last week, he sacked his energy minister in an attempt to calm public anger, but protesters insisted the president and his entire cabinet step down.
“I understand the anger, the sadness, and the difficulties caused by power cuts and water supply problems,” Rajoelina told the nation. He also invited young people to hold talks with him, signalling an attempt to bridge the widening gap between his administration and a generation demanding change.
At the protests, banners captured the mood. One read simply: “We don’t want trouble, we just want our rights.”
Some lawmakers have accused demonstrators of attacking property, including the homes of two legislators. Protesters deny those claims, insisting that hired gangs carried out the destruction to discredit their movement.
Madagascar has a long history of political unrest. In 2009, mass demonstrations forced then-president Marc Ravalomanana from power, paving the way for Rajoelina to first take office.
This latest wave of protests underscores both the fragility of governance in one of the world’s poorest nations and the growing resolve of a younger generation no longer willing to endure shortages that define daily life.
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