Colonel Michael Randrianirina took control of Madagascar after the incumbent president fled due to protests led by young Gen Z people against the government.
Randrianirina is part of Madagascar’s elite CAPSAT (Land Army Personnel and Service Administration Corps) military unit, the group that brought the now deposed to power in a 2009 coup.
he suspended the southern African country’s institutions, including the Senate, the electoral commission and the main legal bodies, including the High Constitutional Court, which validated his inauguration as interim president. He said it could take up to two years to hold elections that lead to a transition back to civilian government.
Randrianirina has become an outspoken critic of Rajoelina in recent years and was arrested on suspicion of instigating an army mutiny on November 27, 2023, for which he was charged, taken to court and sent to prison, all on the same day.
He was released in February 2024, after receiving a suspended sentence for attacking state security, and returned to CAPSAT.
On October 11, as Gen Z protests against Rajoelina gained momentum, Randrianirina recorded a video in which she urged Madagascar’s security forces to disobey orders to open fire on protesters. Some CAPSAT soldiers joined the protests following this statement of support.
Randrianirina was born in the village of Sevohipoty, in the Androy region, on the southern tip of the Indian Ocean island. The colonel is 51 years old, although the exact date of his birth, as well as his family history, is not public knowledge.
He was governor of Androy between 2016 and 2018, later becoming head of an infantry battalion in the city of Toliara until 2022. He was then promoted to a senior position in CAPSAT.
