{"id":3117,"date":"2025-10-04T07:38:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T07:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/04\/madagascar-president-refuses-to-step-down-as-antigovt-protests-continue\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T07:38:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T07:38:47","slug":"madagascar-president-refuses-to-step-down-as-antigovt-protests-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/04\/madagascar-president-refuses-to-step-down-as-antigovt-protests-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"Madagascar president refuses to step down as antigov\u2019t protests continue"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Protesters issue president 24-hour ultimatum to \u2018respond favourably\u2019 to demands, threatening \u2018all necessary measures\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina has ignored calls for his resignation by a nationwide youth-led protest movement, condemning what he perceives to be a coup plot driven by rivals.<\/p>\n<p>Protesters took to the streets of the capital, Antananarivo, on Friday after a \u201cstrategic\u201d pause in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/gallery\/2025\/10\/1\/madagascar-protesters-return-to-streets-as-government-dissolves\">near-daily demonstrations<\/a> led by a movement known as \u201cGen Z\u201d, which has demanded the president\u2019s resignation over his alleged failure to deliver basic services, including water and electricity.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/gallery\/2025\/10\/1\/madagascar-protesters-return-to-streets-as-government-dissolves\">Photos: Madagascar protesters return to streets as government dissolves<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2025\/9\/30\/madagascar-president-dissolves-government-after-deadly-protests\">Madagascar president dissolves government after deadly protests<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/29\/madagascar-president-dissolves-government-after-youth-led-deadly-protests\">Madagascar president dissolves government after youth-led deadly protests<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>At least 22 people have been killed since the protests started on September 25, according to the United Nations. On Friday, police fired tear gas to disperse marchers in the capital, footage from Real TV Madagasikara showed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one benefits from the destruction of the nation. I am here, I stand here ready to listen, ready to extend a helping hand and \u2026 to bring solutions to Madagascar,\u201d Rajoelina said in a speech broadcast on his Facebook page.<\/p>\n<p>He said, without providing evidence, that some politicians were plotting to take advantage of the protests and had considered staging a coup while he was addressing the United Nations in New York last week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I want to tell you is that some people want to destroy our country,\u201d he said, without naming those he alleged were behind the move.<\/p>\n<p>The Gen Z movement rejected Rajoelina\u2019s speech as \u201csenseless\u201d, promising to take \u201call necessary measures\u201d if the president did not \u201crespond favourably\u201d within 24 hours to its demands.<\/p>\n<p>There were also protests in the northern coastal city of Mahajanga and in the southern cities of Toliara and Fianarantsoa.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4006202\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4006202\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2025-10-03T141801Z_682690923_RC2D4HARPXRS_RTRMADP_3_MADAGASCAR-PROTESTS-1759520577.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C515&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Protesters throw stones at police in Antananarivo\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4006202\">Protesters throw stones at police during a nationwide youth-led protest against worsening water shortages and power outages, and demands for the resignation of Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina, in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on October 3, 2025 [Zo Andrianjafy\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"opportunistic-groups\">\u2018Opportunistic groups\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Madagascar is rich in resources yet remains one of the world\u2019s poorest countries, with 75 percent of its population of 32 million living below the poverty line in 2022, according to the World Bank.<\/p>\n<p>The recent unrest forced Rajoelina to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/29\/madagascar-president-dissolves-government-after-youth-led-deadly-protests\">sack his government<\/a> on Monday and invite dialogue. In a post on his X account at the end of the week, he said he had also met various groups for the past three days to discuss the situation.<\/p>\n<p>Madagascar\u2019s Foreign Minister Rasata Rafaravavitafika said the country faced \u201ca massive cyberattack\u201d and a \u201ctargeted digital manipulation campaign\u201d launched from another country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to analyses by our specialised units, this operation was initially directed from abroad by an agency with advanced technological capabilities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>She claimed that \u201copportunistic groups\u201d had \u201cinfiltrated\u201d the protests and aimed to \u201cexploit the vulnerability of some of Madagascar\u2019s young people\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Rajoelina, the former mayor of Antananarivo, first came to power in 2009 following a coup sparked by an uprising that deposed former President Marc Ravalomanana.<\/p>\n<p>After sitting out the 2013 election under international pressure, he was voted back into office in 2018 and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/11\/25\/madagascar-president-re-elected-as-opposition-denounces-irregularities\">re-elected<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Protesters issue president 24-hour ultimatum to \u2018respond favourably\u2019 to demands, threatening \u2018all necessary measures\u2019. Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina has ignored calls for his resignation by a nationwide youth-led protest movement, condemning what he perceives to be a coup plot driven by rivals. Protesters took to the streets of the capital, Antananarivo, on Friday after a &#8230; <a title=\"Madagascar president refuses to step down as antigov\u2019t protests continue\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/04\/madagascar-president-refuses-to-step-down-as-antigovt-protests-continue\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Madagascar president refuses to step down as antigov\u2019t protests continue\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}