Madagascar: military coup leader sworn in as president

Antananarivo (Madagascar), 17 October (LaPresse) – Colonel Michael Randrianirina, who led the military coup in Madagascar, was sworn in as the country’s new president during a ceremony in the main hall of the nation’s High Constitutional Court. His rise to the presidency came just three days after he announced that the armed forces were taking power in the vast Indian Ocean island of about 30 million people. The United Nations condemned the military coup as an unconstitutional change of government.