In Madagascar, a ‘vigilant’ young voice finds himself at a crossroads after weeks of protest

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - ANTANANARIVO, Oct 19 — Young, educated and revolted by the living conditions endured by Madagascar’s citizens, 31-year-old Elliot Randriamandrato embodies the Gen Z movement whose weeks of protests drove ex-president Andry Rajoelina from power.

In the wake of Rajoelina’s ousting — already replaced by army colonel Michael Randrianirina, sworn in as transition president yesterday — the young activist in baggy trousers and low Doc Martens boots was thrust into the limelight as the youth-led movement transitioned from protest to proposals.

“The past few weeks are a half-victory, the real struggle begins now,” the Gen Z spokesman, who holds a master’s degree in public affairs from a Paris university, told AFP. “Our main demand is a change to the current political system.”

Inspired by other recent youth-led protests, the movement is innovative — mobilising on social media, with a horizontal hierarchy and infused with a younger generation’s cultural references, like the skull logo from the Japanese anime One Piece.

Yet it ultimately repeated a classic move in Malagasy history — an intervention by the army to arbitrate — in the third military transition in Madagascar since independence in 1960, following coups in 1972 and 2009.

“We’re working like crazy to avoid being taken advantage of, to prevent a repeat of the past, and ensure the youth aren’t forgotten,” said Randriamandrato, his Dragon Ball and Warhammer tattoos peeking out from under his T-shirt sleeve.

It doesn’t help that the movement’s original Facebook page, which had nearly 200,000 followers before being hacked, was taken down.

While Randriamandrato said he was “pleasantly surprised by the military’s openness” after having had a brief meeting with them, he remains “vigilant”.

Activism

“People need to understand that one couldn’t have happened without the other,” the activist said.

“Just the military, it wouldn’t have been possible. Just us, it would’ve taken months, even though we were ready for that. The turning point came from the convergence of both.”

Having returned to Madagascar in March, where his agroecology association Tetikasa Ala, founded in 2019, fights soil degradation and deforestation by planting fruit forests, Randriamandrato also ran a media outlet on Malagasy urban culture, Hype Mada, before being caught up in the demonstrations.

“I went to the protest on September 25, like everyone else. The next day, friends asked if I wanted to help organise the movement,” recalled the activist, who was briefly detained last week before the military joined the protesters.

“Nepal showed the way. We saw what happened there, the flag raised, the links with One Piece. And we said to ourselves: that’s it, we’ve had enough,” he said.

Randriamandrato was thrust into activism during the 2009 political crisis, which brought Rajoelina to power.

At 14 years old, he was preparing for his middle-school exams when tear gas grenades used to disperse protesters landed in his schoolyard.

Death threats

“I remember having to flee from the school with my sister, right in the middle of gunfire,” he told AFP.

“It was during the Ambohitsorohitra events,” he said, when 36 protesters were shot dead by then-president Marc Ravalomanana’s presidential guard.

His parents’ restaurant was firebombed during those weeks of unrest.

“My father nearly died — we lived the 2009 events firsthand,” he said. “When the restaurant burnt down, we lost almost everything. We had to move. We went to live with my grandmother. We weren’t home anymore. My parents went into debt.”

Then came 2018, a “turning point” in the then-student’s life.

Having stepped down as transitional president in 2014 under international pressure, Rajoelina was campaigning again for the upcoming elections and came for a conference at Randriamandrato’s university in Paris.

“My friends and I said we couldn’t let him keep lying to the world, so we wrote an open letter to the administration,” he recalled.

“That same evening, my sister told me ‘look on Facebook, your name is everywhere’,” he said.

“Sure enough, there was my photo, my address, my full name and those of my sister, brother, mother and father — shared with the caption: ‘These are enemies of the nation’,” he said, blaming “troll accounts” and pro-regime online media.

Randriamandrato said he received hundreds of death threats but still attended the conference to confront Rajoelina.

Seven years later, he said, he has “played his part in Rajoelina’s departure.” — AFP