Star Metro - Madagascar protesters mobilise despite firing of government

Inspired by "Gen Z" protests in Indonesia and Nepal, the youth-led movement has taken aim at ingrained misgovernance, fuelled by anger over repeated water and power cuts across the Indian Ocean nation.

Rajoelina Monday fired his entire government and vowed to find a solution to the country's problems.

"When the Malagasy people suffer, I want you to know that I feel that pain too, and I have not slept, day or night, in my efforts to find solutions and improve the situation," he said.

But it was not enough to put paid to protests, with the organisers calling for a rally in the capital Tuesday at 11:00 am (0800 GMT).

Previous demonstrations have been met with a heavy police response, with at least 22 people killed and more than 100 injured, according to the UN.

The government has rejected the tally as unverified and "based on rumours".

Last week's protests in the capital Antananarivo were followed by widespread looting throughout the night.

"They call us the TikTok generation, a generation of idiots, and when we rise up, they won't even let us speak," a student protester said Monday, dressed in black in line with a call on social media to mourn those killed.

"Mr Andry Rajoelina, when you led protests, you were allowed to, it was fine. But when we young people rise to fight for our country, you try to silence us," she said.

Rajoelina, a former mayor of Antananarivo, came to power on the back of a coup that ousted former president Marc Ravalomanana.

After not contesting the 2013 election due to international pressure, he was voted back into office in 2018.

Madagascar ranks among the world's poorest countries but is the leading producer of vanilla, one of the most expensive spices after saffron.

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L.Mitchell--SMC