Madagascar’s president ousted in military coup after weeks of protests

The country has been roiled by weeks of protests (AP)

Madagascar’s president Andry Rajoelina has been toppled in a military coup that capped weeks of youth protests over poverty, power outages and a lack of opportunity in the Indian Ocean island country.

Right after parliament voted to impeach Mr Rajoelina, who fled the country fearing for his safety, the leader of Madagascar’s elite Capsat military unit said the armed forces would form a council made up of officers from the armed forces and gendarmerie, a military unit that polices civilians, and would appoint a prime minister to “quickly” form a civilian government.