HARARE, October 14. /TASS/. Madagascar’s National Assembly (the lower chamber of the parliament) voted to oust the country’s President Andry Rajoelina, the Orange news outlet reported.
Of the 131 lawmakers present (out of 151 total), 130 voted to depose the president, including representatives of the ruling "Together with President Andry Rajoelina" coalition.
Earlier, the president had announced the dissolution of the lower chamber of parliament, but the National Assembly deemed this decision unlawful.
In turn, the president said that the extraordinary session of the National Assembly, which was convened by the opposition, "is legally void and ungrounded, and contradicts the Constitution."
The internal political crisis in Madagascar began on September 25 with mass protests by young people over power and water outages. These protests then led to demands that the president step down. Rajoelina said that he was willing to negotiate with the opposition but refused to step down. He said that he was hiding "in a safe place" and would continue to run the country from there. His exact location remains unclear.