Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina has made a public broadcast saying he fled the country to avoid being assassinated.

Mr Rajoelina, who fled the country after a faction of Madagascar’s army declared support for protesters calling for his resignation, spoke in a Facebook broadcast on Monday.

“Since 25 September, there have been attempts on my life and coup attempts. A group of military personnel and politicians planned to assassinate me,” Mr Rajoelina said.

Though he did not disclose his whereabouts, Mr Rajoelina said, “I was forced to find a safe place to protect my life. There is only one way to resolve these issues; that is to respect the constitution in force in the country.”

Citing a military source, Reuters reported that Rajoelina flew out of the country on a French military aircraft on Sunday. French radio RFI said he had struck a deal with President Emmanuel Macron.

According to the report, a French Army Casa aircraft landed in Madagascar’s Sainte Marie airport on Sunday. Five minutes later, a helicopter arrived and transferred its passenger into the Casa. The source said Mr Rajoelina was the passenger.

Mr Rajoelina’s Facebook post comes amid massive protests rocking Madagascar for the third week since September 25, when water and power shortages sparked demonstrations. The protests have, however,
morphed into calls for the president’s resignation despite police clampdown and Mr Rajoelina’s appeal and call for dialogue.

Before the report of Mr Rajoelina fleeing the country, CAPSAT, a unit of Madagascar’s army that played a key role in the 2019 coup, declared in a video on Sunday that it supported protesters calling for Mr Rajoelina’s resignation.

The soldiers also warned that security forces “must not blindly follow unlawful orders”, and reminded them that they are “from the people and must serve the people”.

To pacify protesters and douse tension, Mr Rajoelina sacked his cabinet members, begging for one year to fix power and water shortages and promising to resign should the problems persist.

But protesters have remained on the streets of Madagascar despite his plea, disrupting commercial activities and insisting that the president resign. So far, over 20 people have been killed since the protests started.

Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, in a statement, decried the death of at least 22 people and a hundred injured during the protests.

Mr Türk expressed “shock at the violent response by security forces to the ongoing protests. The authorities must ensure respect for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”