Coup: AU Suspends Madagascar

The African Union (AU) said it has suspended Madagascar “with immediate effect” after a coup saw an elite army unit seized power following President Andry Rajoelina’s escape from the country and subsequent impeachment.

LEADERSHIP reported that the military took power in Madagascar on Tuesday after the National Assembly voted to impeach Rajoelina for ‘desertion of duty’.

“We have taken power,” Colonel Michael Randrianirina, head of the CAPSAT military unit, told AFP after reading out a statement at a government building in the capital.

AFP also reported the military officers saying their leader, Randrianirina, will be sworn in as transitional president during a “solemn hearing” of the country’s top court on Friday

“The country is suspended with immediate effect,” AU Commission chair Mahamoud Ali Youssouf told AFP after Madagascar’s top court confirmed Colonel Michael Randrianirina as president to plunge the poor Indian Ocean nation into crisis.