On October 17, 2025, Army Colonel Michael Randrianirina was inaugurated as Madagascar’s president in Antananarivo, following a military-led power shift that forced former president Andry Rajoelina to flee. Randrianirina, leader of the mutinous CAPSAT army unit that joined anti-government protests, took the presidential oath at the constitutional court, attended by military officers, politicians, Gen Z protest leaders, and delegations from the US, EU, Russia, and France.
Describing the event as a “historic turning point,” Randrianirina pledged to collaborate with national stakeholders to draft a new constitution and electoral laws for future elections and referendums.
He thanked the youth for their role in ousting Rajoelina and vowed to overhaul Madagascar’s administrative, socio-economic, and political systems, breaking from past governance practices.
