Troops from the elite CAPSAT unit that helped President Andry Rajoelina seize power in a 2009 coup, urged fellow soldiers to disobey orders on Saturday and back the youth-led protests, which began on September 25 and pose the most serious challenge to Rajoelina's rule since his re-election in 2023.
CAPSAT officers said on Sunday they had command over the country's security operations and would co-ordinate all branches of the military from their base on the outskirts of the capital Antananarivo.
They said they had appointed General Demosthene Pikulas as head of the army.
A unit of the paramilitary gendarmerie, which had so far tackled the protests together with the police, also broke ranks with the government on Sunday.
"All use of force and any improper behaviour towards our fellow citizens are prohibited, as the gendarmerie is a force meant to protect people and not to defend the interests of a few individuals," the Intervention Forces of the National Gendarmerie said in a statement broadcast on Real TV.
It said it was co-ordinating with the CAPSAT headquarters.
The defence ministry and the military general staff declined to comment.
A Reuters witness saw three people injured after shots were fired along a road to the CAPSAT barracks on Sunday.
Other witnesses said there was no sign of ongoing clashes.
A statement from Rajoelina's office said it "wishes to inform the nation and the international community that an attempt to seize power illegally and by force" has been "initiated".
"In view of the extreme gravity of this situation, the president of the republic ... strongly condemns this attempt at destabilisation and calls upon all forces of the nation to unite in defence of constitutional order and national sovereignty," Rajoelina's office said.
Rajoelina's whereabouts were unknown on Sunday but late on Saturday his office said he and the prime minister were "fully in control of the nation's affairs".
The protests, inspired by "Gen Z-led" movements in Kenya and Nepal, began over water and electricity shortages but have since escalated, with demonstrators calling for Rajoelina to step down, apologise for violence against protesters and dissolve the Senate and electoral commission.
Some demonstrators have been sporting T-shirts and flags with the same symbol - a skull with a straw hat from the Japanese manga series One Piece - used by youth-led demonstrators in countries including Indonesia and Peru.
The peaceful gathering was attended by church leaders and opposition politicians including former president Marc Ravalomanana, as well as CAPSAT troops.
Madagascar, a country where the median age is less than 20, has a population of about 30 million - three-quarters of whom live in poverty, according to the World Bank.
A video broadcast by local media showed dozens of soldiers leaving the barracks on Saturday to escort thousands of protesters into the May 13 Square in Antananarivo, the scene of many political uprisings, which had been heavily guarded and off limits during the unrest.
Rajoelina first came to prominence as the transitional leader of Madagascar following a 2009 coup.
He was first elected president in 2018 and was re-elected for a second term in 2023.
with AP
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