This article was written by Afribarometer.
An Afrobarometer survey conducted in 2024, found a majority of people in Malagasy (53%) prefer democracy over any other type of political system.
But 13% said a non-democratic government, can sometimes be preferable, and fully one in three (33%) professed indifference to the type of government they have.
Almost two-thirds (64%) of citizens rejected military rule as a system of government.
But six in 10 Malagasy (60%) saw it as “legitimate for the armed forces to take control of government when elected leaders abuse power for their own ends,” while 40% said the military should never intervene.
In case of a military takeover, a plurality (45%) of respondents said the military should restore civilian rule as soon as possible, while 35% preferred a gradual transition and 20% said the military should rule as long as it deems necessary.
On Tuesday, Madagascar military leaders announced that they had taken control of the government after President Andry Rajoelina went into hiding in the wake of massive youth-led protests over chronic water and electricity outages, unemployment, corruption, and the rising cost of living.
The military leadership was quoted as promising to form a civilian government and to conduct elections within two years.
The Afrobarometer team in Madagascar, led by COEF-Ressources, interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,200 adult citizens of Madagascar in October-November 2024.
Previous surveys were conducted in Madagascar in 2005, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018, and 2022.
Picture: UN