Colonel Michael Randrianirina, the once-little-known commander of Madagascar’s elite CAPSAT unit, has in a matter of days emerged as the island nation’s de facto leader after troops entered the capital, President Andry Rajoelina fled and parliament moved to impeach him.
Randrianirina, 51, became a central figure on Saturday when he led CAPSAT into the centre of Antananarivo and joined anti-government demonstrators demanding Rajoelina’s resignation. Standing before the vacant presidential palace, he told reporters the unit was taking charge. The constitutional court later declared him the country’s new ruler, even as the ousted president continued to claim authority.
Details about Randrianirina’s background are sparse, unusual for the head of Madagascar’s most powerful military formation. He was born in Sevohipoty in the southern Androy region and served as governor of Androy from 2016 to 2018 under former President Hery Rajaonarimampianina. He went on to command an infantry battalion in the port city of Toliara until 2022.
A vocal critic of Rajoelina, Randrianirina was arrested in November 2023 and held in a maximum-security prison without trial on charges of inciting a mutiny and plotting a coup. His detention drew protests from student groups, soldiers and politicians who said the arrest was political; he was released in February 2024.
Since emerging in public this week, Randrianirina has cultivated an image of accessibility and pragmatism. In interviews he described himself as a “servant” of the people, stressed a focus on social welfare in a country where roughly three-quarters of the population live below the poverty line, and rejected the elevation of French over Madagascar’s native language, saying he preferred to speak Malagasy.
He has told local media the military plans to rule alongside a civilian administration for up to two years before holding elections. That timetable, and the exact makeup of any interim government, remain unclear and have prompted concern from regional and international actors wary of extended military rule.
Randrianirina’s rapid rise — from a figure little known outside military circles to the officer every Malagasy is talking about — caps a dramatic week of protest, defections within the security forces and a swift political collapse for Rajoelina, who first seized power in a 2009 coup and later returned to the presidency through elections.