GEN Z PROTESTERS WANT PRESIDENT TO STEP DOWN
The protests, inspired by Gen Z-led movements in Kenya and Nepal, began over water and electricity shortages. They have since spread, with demonstrators calling for Rajoelina to step down, apologise for violence against protesters, and dissolve the Senate and electoral commission.
Along Independence Avenue, Antananarivo’s principal artery, a Reuters reporter saw protestors shouting anti-government slogans on Sunday, waving Malagasy flags and riding motorbikes up and down the street cheering.
“The president has been in power more than 15 years, and still there’s no water, no electricity, no jobs,” said Vanessa Rafanomezantsoa, a 24-year-old mother of two, unemployed and wearing torn clothes.
“Look at Madagascar. They (the government) are rich and we don’t have enough to eat.”
Earlier, protesters paid tribute to a slain CAPSAT soldier the army unit said was killed by the gendarmerie on Saturday. Church leaders and opposition politicians, including former President Marc Ravalomanana, as well as CAPSAT troops, attended the peaceful gathering.
Some demonstrators have been sporting T-shirts and flags with the same symbol – a skull with a straw hat from the Japanese manga series “One Piece” – used by youth-led demonstrators in countries including Indonesia and Peru.
Source: CNA
