Overview
- President Andry Rajoelina is set to speak at 7pm local time as crowds celebrate in Antananarivo, with CAPSAT soldiers and gendarmes visible at city hall.
- The CAPSAT contingent sided with demonstrators, escorted them into the symbolic May 13 Square, and urged security forces to refuse orders to fire on protesters.
- CAPSAT declared that all army orders now originate from its headquarters and installed General Demosthene Pikulas as army chief during a ceremony attended by the armed forces minister.
- The presidency denounced what it called an illegal attempt to seize power and maintained that Rajoelina remains in the country, though his whereabouts have been questioned in some reports.
- The gendarmerie acknowledged "faults and excesses" in earlier crackdowns as the UN reports at least 22 deaths, a toll the government disputes, while the African Union and others urge restraint, Air France suspends flights, and the Senate removes its president.