London, UK – 8 October 2025
The streets of Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, and several provincial cities are once again alight with renewed youth-led protests against President Andry Rajoelina, marking the third consecutive week of unrest. What began as demonstrations over severe water and power shortages has quickly morphed into a nationwide anti-government movement demanding the 51-year-old leader’s resignation and radical political reform. The resilient movement, primarily coordinated by the online-driven group “Gen Z Mada,” has plunged the Indian Ocean island nation into its most significant political crisis since Rajoelina’s 2023 re-election.
Escalating Demands and Deadly Clashes
The protests, which first erupted on 25 September, have seen hundreds of mainly university and high school students take to the streets daily, often clashing with security forces. Despite President Rajoelina’s attempt to defuse the crisis by dissolving his government last week, the demonstrators have rejected this concession as insufficient, underscoring a deep-seated frustration with the entire political system.
Key Developments:
* Renewed Clashes: On Monday, 6 October, security forces in Antananarivo deployed tear gas and stun grenades to disperse crowds attempting to march towards the city centre. Protests were also reported in major provincial cities, including Toliara and Diego Suarez (Antsiranana), where demonstrators reportedly burned tyres.
* Growing Death Toll: The response by security forces has drawn international condemnation. The United Nations reported last week that at least 22 people had been killed and more than 100 injured in the initial days of the unrest, figures the Malagasy government has rejected as inaccurate.
* Rejection of Dialogue: The youth-led movement is demanding more than just a cabinet reshuffle. Their demands now include the dissolution of parliament, the replacement of top judicial and electoral commission members, and a fundamental rooting out of the rampant corruption they attribute to the current political elite.
The Root of the Crisis: Poverty and Corruption
While the immediate spark for the protests was extended power and water cuts—with some citizens enduring up to 120 hours of blackouts per week—the underlying cause is the country’s crushing poverty and perceived high-level corruption. Despite possessing significant mineral wealth and biodiversity, Madagascar remains one of the world’s poorest countries, where nearly three-quarters of the population live below the poverty line.
Protesters, many of whom are university students and unemployed youth, see the frequent cuts to essential services as a symptom of a dysfunctional system and a failure of governance that has seen the country’s income per capita fall by 45% in real terms since 1960.
Rajoelina’s Response and the Threat of Destabilisation
President Rajoelina, who first came to power in a 2009 coup before being re-elected in 2018 and 2023, has acknowledged the public’s anger and apologised for government failings, but has unequivocally ignored calls for his resignation.
* Coup Allegations: The President has condemned the protests as an attempt to “destabilise the country” and a move to provoke another coup, alleging the youth movement is being exploited by political actors or foreign entities.
* International Inspiration: The “Gen Z Mada” movement, which operates without a centralised leadership and organises largely on social media, has openly drawn inspiration from similar youth-led protests in other nations, including Kenya and Nepal.
With the Christian Council of Churches of Madagascar (FFKM) offering to mediate and the youth movement vowing to continue their fight for “radical change of the system,” the political standoff threatens to prolong the unrest, posing the most serious challenge yet to Rajoelina’s long tenure in power. The future of the island nation now hinges on whether the government can address the deep-seated grievances of its young, disaffected population.
