ANTANANARIVO, Oct 1 — Rallying behind a pirate flag from the Japanese anime One Piece, youth-led demonstrators in Madagascar say they are inspired by Nepal’s “wind of change” and insist their country’s “system must fall.”
With power and water cuts lasting up to 12 hours a day, thousands have taken to the streets in fury.
After days of protests forced the government’s dismissal, demonstrators are now demanding the resignation of President Andry Rajoelina.
Since Thursday, unrest has left at least 22 people dead and dozens injured, according to the United Nations, which condemned Madagascar’s “violent response” to the protests.
‘Divide us’
Meva, a 30-year-old agricultural engineer, said she had long watched the country’s decline in silence until misgovernance pushed her into action.
“We were terrorised by fear for many years and still are. As a millennial, I’m somewhat angry with myself because for years I saw what was happening and did nothing,” she told AFP.
She said Rajoelina’s dismissal of ministers and calls for fresh faces following the protests were distractions meant “to divide us.”
“They’re trying to make us believe that the government is the problem… But it’s the system itself that ensures that even if you’re a good minister, if you’re not corrupt, you can’t do anything. Because there are really powerful lobbyists behind the president,” she said.
‘Wanted change’
A 28-year-old protester said her generation had drawn inspiration from Nepal’s uprising, calling it a “wind of change.”
“We wanted change at home too. So we decided to rise up against this oppressive government, which acts like untouchable celestial dragons,” she said.
She added that dialogue had failed. “We want him to leave… the entire system must fall.”
Rajoelina, 51, who first came to power after a coup, has given no indication he will step down.
What next?
For Luffy, a 28-year-old entrepreneur and civil society worker, years of resignation have given way to awakening.
“We gave ourselves excuses for years. We told ourselves, ‘It’s okay, we’re poor, maybe it’s not that important.’ But now we see, it is important,” he told AFP.
Madagascar is one of the world’s poorest nations but is the leading producer of vanilla and has significant farming, forestry, fishing and mineral resources.
Beyond calls for human rights, protesters say corruption is “the disease eating away at this country.”
Rajoelina’s apology and dismissal of his government, Luffy said, amounted to little more than political theatre.
What is different now, he added, is the scale of mobilisation across the country — not just in the capital but also in Diego, Toamasina and Antsirabe.
“I saw a spark of change in people,” he said.
But he warned that removing Rajoelina was only the beginning. “We also need to think about who will lead, what structure will be put in place, are we going to refer to the constitution… there is a whole host of questions that arise.” — AFP
