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.
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