After army coup, Madagascar's Gen Z demand a voice in shaping what comes next

By Tim Cocks

ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) -When an elite army colonel joined Madagascar's Gen Z protests earlier this month, forcing the president to flee the country, youth-movement leader Olivia Rafetison was happy to have the protection of men with guns, after weeks of state repression.

"He said: 'we're for the people, we'll help you, we are by your side'. Malagasy were coming together for the same cause," she said, describing the protests against electricity and water shortages that morphed into an uprising against President Andry Rajeolina.

Days later, Colonel Michael Randrianirina said the army was in charge.

"It went from 'protecting the people' to taking power," Rafetison, 28, told Reuters in downtown Antananarivo. "I'm not saying I'm against it ... But I am a little conflicted."

Randrianirina was sworn in as president on Friday, just three days after taking control of the island nation in the wake of the demonstrations that forced out his predecessor.

He has said the military will rule alongside a civilian government for up to two years before organising new elections.      

GEN Z: CHANGE THE SYSTEM, NOT THE LEADER

Rafetison, leader of Movement Gen Z Collective, a coalition of several of the protest groups, is not the only participant in the uprising to feel ambivalent about a man in uniform filling the power vacuum left by Rajeolina's hasty exit. Many wonder if their concerns will be heeded or, as in the past, ignored.

On the night of the coup, Randrianirina received Rafetison and other prominent Gen Z figures. "He said 'we're listening to you,'" she said, but the soldiers were all tired and soon ended the conversation, suggesting they talk more at a later date.

"I hope they follow up," she said. "Because this isn't the end of the struggle: we're really fighting for system change, not to swap one president for another."

Madagascar's young population, averaging just 19, faces a litany of problems that are largely the result of mismanagement by a succession of older men. Even Rajeolina, at 34 the world's youngest president when he came to power in a 2009 coup, disappointed the youth by failing to create prosperity or deliver basic services by the time he was ousted in his 50s.

Since independence from France in 1960 until 2020, GDP per capita nearly halved, World Bank data shows, making it one of few nations that became worse off in that time.

In that time, Madagascar experienced several periods of military-led or military-dominated government, often with disastrous results for the economy.

Today, Antananarivo's winding, cobbled streets are bestrewn with beggars and hawkers eking out a living selling whatever they can.

"Everyone is taking advantage of the system, they don't care. Even if the population dies of hunger, it's nothing (to them)," Alicia Andriana, from the Association of Dynamic Malagasy Students (Assedu-Mada), said in a downtown nightclub that doubles up as a meeting centre for Gen Z movements by day.

WE ASKED FOR WATER, ELECTRICITY, AFFORDABLE FOOD

Andriana said she was thankful for the army intervention. 

But asked if she was happy with the end result, she replied: "No, not really. Not yet, because we don't have what we asked for. We asked for water, electricity, for every family to have enough to eat," she said, adding that the coup leaders needed to "put in place a new system that can change life in Madagascar".

Some elements of Madagascar's fragmented Gen Z movement are uneasier at the prospect of military rule. A Facebook group called Gen-Z Tonga Saina, with 18,000 members, warned late on Thursday it thought the military was compromised and "protects the interests of the system, not the people."

It did not respond to a request for comment.

Ketakandriana Rafitoson, Vice Chair of Transparency International, which played a role in organising some of the initial protests, and herself Malagasy, told Reuters coups are always undesirable for democracy but in this case, there was "an apparent unwillingness of political leaders to address grievances," followed by violent repression and then a president fleeing with no credible civilian replacement.   

"An organised armed unit was in practice the only institution able, quickly, to stop the bloodshed and reopen civic space," she said.

Still, Madagascar’s newly energized youth activists won’t wait forever for the civic space they fought to reclaim.

"We can't be certain they (the military government) will listen, but we can hope," 23-year-old Gen Z campaign spokesperson Tolotra Andrianirina told Reuters. 

And if they don't?

"We'll get back on the streets," he said. "We did it once; we can do it again, if necessary".

(Reporting by Tim Cocks, Editing by William Maclean)