Troops in Madagascar who staged a mutiny and claimed they seized power on the island were considering their next move after the government warned of reprisals against them, their leader said yesterday.
“We are in a meeting to decide what we’re going to do,” General Noel Rakotonandrasana, a former armed forces minister who played a key role in last year’s coup that brought Andry Rajoelina to power, said by telephone.
On Wednesday Rakotonandrasan declared that government institutions had been suspended and a military council was in charge of the country.
Madagascan Prime Minister Camille Vital said the mutineers numbered no more than 20 and a military source warned the government was preparing to get tough with them.
“If the negotiations fail, the regime is going to take a much tougher stance. There won’t be any en masse pardon. Orders have been given,” the source said, asking not to be identified.
There were no signs of a military presence or unusual activity in the capital yesterday, with traffic on the streets and shops open for business as normal.
Pedestrians and vehicles were moving normally through the street in front of the barracks where the mutineers are holed up, with just one sentinel standing guard at the entrance to the barracks.
Rajoelina, speaking on Wednesday evening, said “the government will assume its responsibilities and consequently take action.”
The mutiny took place on a public holiday as residents voted in a referendum on a new constitution organized by Rajoelina.
In the capital, Antananarivo, those who took part in the referendum voted overwhelmingly in favor of the new law, according to provisional results announced yesterday by the electoral agency, but turnout was only 40 percent.
The yes vote is likely to dominate everywhere as the opposition parties, led by the island’s three former presidents — Marc Ravalomanana, Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy — have called for a boycott rather than a no vote.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique