After 12 days of violent protests in Madagascar, which reportedly left at least 22 dead, Head of State Andry Rajoelina appointed his new Prime Minister on Monday, October 6.

In a speech lasting about thirty minutes on Monday, October 6, Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina appointed Army General Ruphin Fortunat Dimbisoa Zafisambo as the new Prime Minister, thus attempting to extinguish the political crisis that has shaken the country for nearly two weeks.

The leader specified that the new head of government will have six months to prove himself. "His success will ensure his continued mandate as head of the executive; if he fails, it will lead to his departure," he explained.

Little known to the general public, the latter previously held the position of chief of staff to his predecessor, Ntsay Christian, whose government was dissolved on September 29 under pressure from the "Gen Z" movement, bringing together young people born between 1997 and 2012.

Andry Rajoelina described the former deputy secretary general of the government as a man of "honesty, who works quickly, is open and listens well."

A 48-hour ultimatum

"Our enemy is not us Malagasy people. Our enemy is poverty, corruption, and the abuse of power," he insisted, echoing the demands of the protesters in the streets.

The protests, initially sparked by frequent water and electricity outages, quickly became a warning sign of the country's dire economic situation. In 2022, 75% of the Malagasy population lived below the poverty line, which stands at 4,000 ariary per day, or less than 0.80 euro cents, according to the World Bank.

Unsurprisingly, the protesters rejected the appointment, calling it a "political diversion." The movement gave the authorities "48 hours to respond" to its "unambiguous" demands in a joint statement with around twenty other organizations, threatening a national general strike to "enforce the will of the people."

"The future of this country will depend on me, on you, on all of us," said one of the leaders of the movement, who had called for new demonstrations this Monday, with the Ankatso University Campus, on the outskirts of the capital Antananarivo, as the starting point.

Although the previous day had been calmer, several hundred students took to the streets, where gunfire again rang out, to demand the president's resignation. A young man of about twenty years old, injured by a police gunshot, was taken to hospital, according to AFP.

A disputed death toll

According to a UN report, at least 22 people have died since the protests began and several hundred have been injured. These figures have been refuted by the Malagasy Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The head of state, who held a number of meetings on Saturday with union representatives, the private sector and the administration, said on Monday that he had "learned a great lesson from what has happened recently" and "better focused on the problems of the population."

"We don't want him listening to people in his office. We want him to go out into the field. We'll keep going until we get results," warned Tommy Fanomezantsoa, who has been unemployed since the supermarket where he worked was looted on the first night of the protest.

The Christian Council of Churches of Madagascar (FFKM) said on Friday that it was ready to mediate between the government and the protesters.