President announces Mamitiana Rajaonarison as prime minister after Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo was dismissed.
President announces Mamitiana Rajaonarison as prime minister after Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo was dismissed.
By AFP
and
Reuters
Published On 16 Mar 2026
Madagascar’s President Michael Randrianirina, who seized power in October, has appointed the country’s anticorruption chief as prime minister, barely a week after dissolving the cabinet.
The presidency said on Sunday that Mamitiana Rajaonarison, a former senior gendarmerie officer and career civil administrator, would head the new government.
Colonel Randrianirina, who promised a string of reforms after he took power last year, said Rajaonarison would lead the government “on a clean path” and restore hope.
“The Malagasy nation needs bold decisions. We are now at a turning point,” Randrianirina said at a ceremony in the presidential palace broadcast on state television.
“This country needs a person of integrity, a person of principle, incorruptible and who cannot be bought with money.”
Randrianirina said “integrity” is what he expects from Rajaonarison in the post of prime minister.
The appointment came after Randrianirina dismissed Prime Minister Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo and all other cabinet ministers last Monday, offering no explanation for the move.
Rajaonarivelo, drawn from the private sector, had been appointed in October shortly after Randrianirina seized power during protests that forced former President Andry Rajoelina to flee.
The new prime minister, Rajaonarison, has led the Financial Intelligence Unit (SAMIFIN), which combats illicit financial flows, money laundering and terrorism financing, since 2021.
He is expected to announce his new cabinet shortly.
In September, demonstrations against water and power shortages on the Indian Ocean island snowballed into a protest movement that the government failed to stop with a crackdown that resulted in several casualties.
When Randrianirina’s army unit mutinied and joined the protesters from the “Gen Z” movement, former President Rajoelina fled with the help of France.
The colonel has rejected accusations of a coup, insisting the Constitutional Court “transferred power” to him. He has pledged a two-year transition, outlined in a roadmap released at the end of February.
Since taking power, Randrianirina has led what he calls a “Refoundation”, framing the agenda as a reset aimed at restoring state authority, fighting corruption and rebuilding public trust.
His transition plan calls for broad national consultations through 2026, the drafting of a new constitution, and presidential elections scheduled for late 2027.
Analysts and members of the Gen Z movement that spearheaded last year’s protests said Rajaonarivelo’s sacking came as a surprise, though some see deeper currents at play.
“I do not believe that this decision was taken entirely on the spur of the moment or solely under pressure from a particular group,” analyst and researcher Velomahanina Razakamaharavo, of the University of Reading, told the AFP news agency, saying calls for deeper reform and online campaigns were shaping the political climate.
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