Gen Z risk 'being marginalised' in Madagascar political overhaul as army takes power, expert says

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00:00Let's move on to the situation in Madagascar.

00:02The military leaders there announced this Tuesday that they've taken power.

00:06The army confirming it suspended the country's Senate,

00:09high constitutional court, electoral body, and other important state institutions.

00:15This follows the decision of the president, Andrew Adswell,

00:17to flee Madagascar, he says, in fear for his life.

00:21There have been weeks of so-called Gen Z protests

00:23against corruption, poverty, and the lack of opportunities for young people.

00:30Fighting back amid growing calls to step down,

00:34Madagascar's exiled president announced the dissolution of parliament's lower house on Tuesday,

00:40marking a fresh twist in the country's weeks-long political crisis.

00:44This is a necessary measure to restore national order and reinforce democracy.

00:49The people must be heard once more.

00:52Andrew Adswell fled the country on Sunday after an elite military unit

00:56with joint anti-government protests calling for him to step down.

01:00In an address to the nation on Monday, he'd announced an attempted coup,

01:04saying he feared for his life and called for dialogue to find a way out of the crisis.

01:10The rebellious soldiers, meanwhile, said they had seized power on Tuesday,

01:14as thousands of protesters gathered in the capital once more to call for Radzouel's resignation.

01:19A sign that the president's latest announcement failed to quell popular anger

01:24over chronic water and power outages.

01:28We are not satisfied because that's not what we expected to hear in this speech.

01:33We want him to resign immediately.

01:35We don't want to wait any longer.

01:38Hours after Radzouel's announcement,

01:40Malagasy lawmakers declared the decree null and void

01:43and voted to impeach the president for alleged conflicts of interest.

01:47But with neither side recognising each other's authority,

01:51Madagascar's political future continues to hang in the balance.

01:56Lauren Berstecker with that report.

01:58Let's get more analysis on the situation in Madagascar.

02:01I'm ringing Dr. Luke Freeman,

02:02specialist on Madagascar at the University of London.

02:05Dr. Freeman, thank you very much for being with us here in France 24.

02:08We seem to have two things going on, don't we?

02:10There's a political process, or not, in terms of the military taking power.

02:14Then, of course, the people on the streets,

02:16the people who are suffering from the shortages of things like water, power,

02:20and, of course, living in dire poverty.

02:22And this is possibly where the fear grows.

02:24What happens to those people now?

02:28That's the question,

02:29as what began as social protests become very sharply political.

02:35The events of the weekend,

02:37which led to President Razzuilina fleeing abroad,

02:41it hasn't been disclosed yet where he is,

02:44have left a political space open,

02:47which is rapidly being filled,

02:49as we've seen the National Assembly today

02:52wasting no time in organising a vote to impeach him,

02:56and the military unit,

02:59which accompanied the protesters into town on Saturday,

03:03declaring that they're now in charge.

03:05There's a lot of debating going on

03:09between these different factions now

03:11as they work out

03:13who's going to have the pole position

03:16in negotiating Madagascar's future.

03:19Completely hear what you're saying,

03:20but those young people,

03:21the so-called Gen Z protests,

03:23are rallying behind that one-piece pirate flag

03:26with its straw hat on,

03:28which gave it a kind of comic feel,

03:29but nonetheless a very serious aim behind it.

03:32Youth unemployment in Madagascar,

03:33something like, well, it's over 5%.

03:35I'm sure you can be more precise

03:36on these figures than I can.

03:38They surely cannot be happy

03:40with this concept of having the military in charge now.

03:45This is not what they wanted.

03:48They set out with these social protests.

03:50They probably didn't know where it was going,

03:53and it doesn't seem to be in their hands anymore.

03:56You're absolutely right.

03:58The reason they're behind this

04:00is because they are in such a dire situation.

04:03Every year in Madagascar,

04:05400,000 young people come on to the job market,

04:09a job market which is unable to absorb them.

04:13So they've got pressing issues

04:14about the standard of their education,

04:18their chances of getting jobs,

04:19and their aim was to overthrow a political system,

04:23not to see old politicians and old soldiers

04:27from their perspective just taking up positions,

04:33keeping the system in place,

04:35and brushing Gen Z aside.

04:37Gen Z have got to be careful here.

04:39They've started something,

04:40and they may get marginalized from the process

04:43if they can't ensure that they get a seat at the table,

04:47and their leaderless organization

04:50might actually be a disadvantage to them now.

04:54They've got to work hard to get a place at the table,

04:57and they've got to rely on other stakeholders,

05:00such as the church, such as the trades unions,

05:02such as civil society,

05:04in making sure that they have a say in what happens next

05:08and that it doesn't get usurped

05:10by the military and the old guard politicians.

05:13Indeed, it's a pattern we've seen happen

05:15in other African states over many, many generations,

05:19and one clear that you're warning about now,

05:21and it's clear that those people, Gen Z,

05:23would not want that to happen.

05:25Can we talk a bit about Andrew Aswell?

05:27Clearly, he is in what is termed,

05:29in inverted commas, a safe place,

05:30having fled, in inverted commas,

05:32for fear of his life.

05:33The truth, obviously, will come out eventually.

05:36But in terms of his connection with Madagascar,

05:39does he now become the guy who was once the solution

05:42and is now the problem?

05:43Will he be the scapegoat for what is happening now?

05:48I think he has been born the brunt of the blame

05:54for these problems, and with some justification.

05:58He made election promises back in 2019

06:01to sort out the electricity and the water.

06:04And yes, you could say he inherited problems,

06:06but if you make a promise,

06:08and something as basic as that,

06:10you need to get it sorted out.

06:12You don't need to be spending money

06:13on vast cable car systems costing $150 million,

06:17which ordinary people can't afford,

06:19or football stadiums,

06:21or some of the other vanity projects

06:23which he's been promoting.

06:24You need to sort out those basic things.

06:27So his day has passed.

06:29I don't think people will spend too much time

06:32taking what he says seriously.

06:35The politics is about pragmatism, not principles.

06:39It's about what's happening on the ground.

06:42He has no way back.

06:44He may complain,

06:45and he might try and leverage the support

06:48of organizations such as the African Union

06:51or the Southern African Development Community,

06:55a crying foul, crying constitutional foul play.

07:00But let's not forget,

07:01he came to power in very similar circumstances in 2009,

07:06supported by the very same military unit

07:09who has now seen him leaving the country

07:12and fleeing, probably never to come back.

07:15Dr. Luke Freeman,

07:15Specialist on Madagascar at the University of London.

07:17Thank you once again for joining us here on France 34.

07:20We appreciate the clarity you bring to

07:21a very tricky situation indeed

07:24on the island there in the Indian Ocean.

07:27Dr. Freeman, Specialist on Madagascar,

07:30giving us his insight.

07:31Thanks again, sir, for being with us.

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