Madagascar protesters refuse to meet president as ultimatum nears

A protester carries stones in front of burning barricades as clashes erupt with Malagasy security forces during a demonstration demanding constitutional reforms in Antananarivo, on October 7, 2025. [AFP]

The youth-led movement behind near-daily protests in Madagascar on Wednesday said it would not attend a public meeting later in the day called by President Andry Rajoelina "as long as the repression continues".

Rajoelina has called the 2:00 pm (1100 GMT) public meeting at the presidential palace after earlier in the week appointing an army general as the new prime minister in a bid to quell anti-government unrest, which has claimed 22 lives, according to a toll from the United Nations disputed by local authorities.

The appointment was met with little enthusiasm in the capital Antananarivo, where a few hundred protesters gathered and several people were injured in fresh clashes with police on Tuesday, AFP journalists saw.

"We reject this sham dialogue," the Gen Z Mada group leading the movement said on social media Wednesday, denouncing "a government that represses, abuses and humiliates young people in the streets".

"As long as the repression continues, as long as the voices of the people are silenced, as long as communication flows in only one direction, we will not participate in any false dialogue," it said.

The protests were ignited on September 25 by anger over persistent power and water shortages and grew into a broader anti-government movement that at one point demanded Rajoelina's resignation.

Gen Z has given Rajoelina until Wednesday night to respond favourably to a list of demands that included a public apology for the violence against protesters but did not mention previous calls for him to step down.

They have threatened to call for a general strike if the president fails to comply with their demands.