ALBAWABA- France evacuated Madagascar’s embattled President Andry Rajoelina on Sunday as a military mutiny and mass protests threatened to overthrow his government, in a dramatic turn that has reignited debate over Paris’s lingering grip on African politics.
According to news reports, French forces extracted Rajoelina, who holds dual Malagasy and French citizenship, aboard a military aircraft from the capital, Antananarivo, after an elite army unit known as CAPSAT joined youth-led protests demanding his resignation over corruption, economic collapse, and disputed election results.
French state radio RFI confirmed that a military helicopter or plane was used to ensure his safe passage to France.
Rajoelina, 51, who first rose to power through a 2009 coup and was re-elected in 2023 under contested circumstances, later appeared in a televised address from an undisclosed location, vowing to “return soon to restore order.”
However, opposition lawmakers and military insiders said his exit effectively marked the collapse of his 15-year rule. The uprising, driven by Generation Z activists inspired by similar anti-government movements in Kenya and Bangladesh, intensified after CAPSAT soldiers defected, joining demonstrators who flooded Antananarivo’s streets and seized government buildings.
The crisis has once again spotlighted France’s deep and often controversial involvement in African affairs, a legacy critics describe as “Françafrique”—a post-colonial system of economic and military dominance that allows Paris to safeguard strategic interests across the continent.
In Madagascar, a former French colony that gained independence in 1960, France retains strong military and economic ties, including defense pacts and trade agreements, critics say perpetuate dependency and inequality.
Across Africa, resentment toward France has grown in recent years, with nations such as Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso expelling French troops and severing ties with Paris. Analysts argue that France’s continued reliance on African resources, from Niger’s uranium to Gabon’s oil, underscores its enduring dependency on the continent for global relevance.
