Antananarivo (Madagascar) (AFP) - Soldiers and security forces joined hundreds celebrating in Madagascar’s capital Monday, with the whereabouts of President Andry Rajoelina unknown hours before he was due to address the nation following weeks of protests and growing calls for his resignation.

Rajoelina has not appeared in public since last Wednesday, fuelling speculation among demonstrators that he may have fled the country.

He is believed to have fled aboard a French military plane, according to Radio France Internationale. French officials did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for confirmation.

The former mayor of Antananarivo was due speak to the nation at 7:00 pm (1600 GMT), but it was delayed by an hour and half after “a group of armed forces threatened to take control of the state-owned media,” the presidency said on Facebook.

Earlier, people flooded a square in front of the Antananarivo city hall, waving flags and chanting slogans, some hanging off military vehicles as they arrived, AFP reporters saw.

Among them were soldiers from the army CAPSAT unit, which played a major role in the 2009 coup that first brought Rajoelina to power and on Saturday declared it would “refuse orders to shoot” on demonstrators.

Also present were gendarmerie officers, accused of using heavy-handed tactics during the over two weeks of near-daily protests. They admitted in a video statement to “faults and excesses” in their response.

The protests erupted in September, initially focused on chronic power and water cuts in the impoverished country but developed into a broader anti-government movement that called for 51-year-old Rajoelina to resign.

The United Nations has said that at least 22 people were killed in the first days, some by security forces and others in violence sparked by criminal gangs and looters.

Rajoelina has disputed the toll, saying last week there were “12 confirmed deaths and all of these individuals were looters and vandals”.

Rajoelina said at the weekend an “attempt to seize power illegally” was under way in the Indian Ocean island nation.

On Monday, Rajoelina pardoned eight individuals in a decree, including French-Malagasy dual national Paul Maillot Rafanoharana, sentenced in 2021 to 20 years in prison for an attempted coup in Madagascar. The case has been a source of tension between Antananarivo and Paris.

- ‘Apologise and resign’ -

Amid rumours that Rajoelina had fled, his government said Saturday he remained in Madagascar and was managing national affairs.

“We hope that he will apologise and genuinely announce his resignation,” law student Finaritra Manitra Andrianamelasoa, 24, told AFP at the city hall gathering where a large flag of the Gen Z movement that led the protest was on display.

“Afterwards, we can consider organising elections and determine who will be suitable to take the leadership role,” he said.

“We already expect him to offer his apologies to all Malagasy citizens, as we have had many casualties, relatives, who have been injured during the protests,” said 19-year-old Steven Rasolonjanahary, also expecting a resignation.

Soldiers from the CAPSAT contingent of administrative and technical officers first joined the protesters at the same square on Saturday and were back on Sunday for prayers for the victims, who included a soldier killed in a clash with gendarmes.

To try to defuse the protests, the president last month sacked his entire government.

Meeting one of the demands of the protesters, the Senate announced Sunday the dismissal of its president, Richard Ravalomanana, a former general of the gendarmerie paramilitary police.

On Sunday, the CAPSAT pick for new Chief of the Army Staff, General Demosthene Pikulas, was installed during a ceremony at the army headquarters attended by the armed forces minister, Manantsoa Deramasinjaka Rakotoarivelo.

“I give him my blessing,” said the minister, who was appointed by Rajoelina last week after the government’s firing.

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