ANTANANARIVO: Six foreign embassies and the European Union delegation on Thursday called for “constructive dialogue” in Madagascar where anti-government protesters took a “strategic” break after a week of demonstrations.
The Indian Ocean island was awaiting the nomination of a new prime minister after President Andry Rajoelina dismissed his entire government on Monday in a bid to placate the protests, which started on September 25 over misgovernance and water and power cuts.
Calls for Rajoelina to resign intensified after a heavy crackdown and widespread looting in which at least 22 people were killed and hundreds injured, according to the UN -- a toll the government denies.
“We call on all stakeholders to engage in constructive dialogue in order to overcome the current situation peacefully,“ the embassies of Germany, South Korea, France, Japan, Britain, Switzerland and the EU delegation said in a joint statement.
The near daily youth-led protests began in the capital Antananarivo last Thursday and spread to other cities across the nation of almost 32 million people.
For the first time since Sunday, the “Gen Z” movement leading the protests announced a “24-hour strategic withdrawal” on Thursday in Antananarivo to preserve protesters’ “health and strength”.
“That doesn’t stop protests in other regions,“ it said on social media.
In their joint statement, the foreign diplomatic missions reaffirmed their “commitment to the rule of law and universal rights such as freedom of expression and peaceful assembly”.
Rajoelina first came to power in 2009 following a coup sparked by an uprising and was voted back into office in 2018 and re-elected in contested polls in 2023.
He received representatives of the international community at the presidential palace late on Wednesday, his spokesperson told AFP.
Despite natural resources, Madagascar remains among the world's poorest countries with nearly 75 percent of its population living below the poverty line in 2022, according to the World Bank.
Corruption is widespread, with the nation ranking 140th out of 180 in Transparency International's index - AFP
