Le Monde published on 15 October 2026 a portrait of Colonel Michaël Randrianirina, a year after he took power in Antananarivo. The paper describes an ambitious officer trying to reassure partners and make promises to Malagasy people, with an eye on the presidential vote expected by November 2027. Independent observers, Le Monde writes, warn that opposition and the judiciary are being constrained.

Gen Z protests began on 25 September 2025. After three weeks of mobilisation and violent repression, President Andry Rajoelina left the country on 12 October 2025. Within hours he was replaced by a five-officer presidential council chaired by Randrianirina, Jeune Afrique reported.

The colonel must, according to the same magazine, organise the elections that end the transition in a year’s time. Jeune Afrique wrote on 12 October 2026 that he might also stand, while the Gen Z movement is weakened by internal splits and marginalised. Those are press analyses, not an official electoral calendar quoted here.

Le Monde’s piece is part of a series, “Madagascar, one year after the coup”. This article summarises what the two newsrooms published, without a legal label for the 2025 events and without forecasting the 2027 vote.

Image: Sascha Grabow, Lake Anosy, Antananarivo, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; archive capital, not a portrait of the colonel.

Sources consulted: À Madagascar, l’ascension de l’ambitieux colonel Michaël Randrianirina — Le Monde; À Madagascar, un an après la chute d’Andry Rajoelina — Jeune Afrique.