Madagascar's Leader Fires PM, Suspends Government

Madagascar's leader, Colonel Michaël Randrianirina, has sacked his prime minister and dissolved the cabinet he appointed soon after seizing power following youth-led protests five months ago. The colonel appointed Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, from the private sector, as prime minister in October soon after a military power grab during protests that sent former president Andry Rajoelina fleeing. 
   
Randrianirina "announces that, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, the government is suspended from its duties," the presidency said in a statement released on Monday, March 9. A new prime minister will be appointed "shortly," it said, without providing a timeline or a reason for the dismissal. 
  
Demonstrations against water and power shortages in September last year snowballed into a protest movement that the government failed to stop with a crackdown that left people dead and injured. When the colonel's army unit mutinied and joined the protesters from the Gen Z movement, Rajoelina fled the Indian Ocean island with the help of France. 
  
Randrianirina has denied staging a coup, insisting the Constitutional Court "transferred power" to him, and has pledged a two-year transition, according to a roadmap released at the end of February. 
 
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