Violent protests
Media: President of Madagascar flown out after protests
Updated 10/13/2025 – 11:09 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
As protests and unrest continue in his country, President Rajoelina is flown out by a French military plane. In a speech in the evening he appealed to his people.
After weeks of protests on the island state of Madagascar, head of state Andry Rajoelina has left the country. As the President announced in a live broadcast speech on Monday evening, he had to go to a safe place to protect his life.
Rajoelina was flown out by a French military plane on Sunday, as the French radio station RFI reported. Accordingly, there was a corresponding agreement with French head of state Emmanuel Macron. Rajoelina received French citizenship in 2014. Where he is is not known.
The speech was postponed several times after, according to the presidency, the state media was taken over by armed forces. There were also technical problems with the transmission of the speech. Rajoelina did not comment on a possible resignation. Instead, he appealed to the people of his country to respect the existing order. “If we don’t do this, poverty will continue to get worse,” said the Malagasy president. He later declared himself “open to dialogue to find a way out of this situation.”
Tens of thousands of young people have been demonstrating in the Indian Ocean island nation since the end of September to demand Rajoelina’s resignation. The uprisings were triggered by power and water outages, deficiencies in the education system as well as high unemployment and widespread poverty. Violence also broke out after peaceful protests. At least 22 people were killed.
The presidential office denounced an attempted coup against Rajoelina on Sunday. His representatives denied rumors about his departure on Sunday evening and claimed that Rajoelina was in the bunker in the presidential palace.
Shortly before, an insurgent army unit said it had taken control of the land, air and sea forces of the island nation off the southeastern coast of Africa. Numerous soldiers joined the protests. However, Madagascar also has a gendarmerie that operates separately from the police and military.
