Madagascar president says 'attempt to seize power illegally' is underway

ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCAR - Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina on Sunday said an "attempt to seize power illegally and by force" was underway, a day after a contingent of soldiers joined thousands of anti-government protesters in the capital.

Soldiers based in the outskirts of Antananarivo on Saturday morning called on security units to "join forces" and to "refuse orders to shoot", repudiating the violent crackdown on youth-led protests that have rocked the Indian Ocean island for more than two weeks.

Soldiers clashed with gendarmes outside a barracks and rode into the city on army vehicles to join the demonstrators on the symbolic Place du 13 Mai in front of Antananarivo's city hall, where they were welcomed with cheers and calls for Rajoelina to resign.

"The Presidency of the Republic wishes to inform the nation and the international community that an attempt to seize power illegally and by force, contrary to the Constitution and to democratic principles, is currently underway," Rajoelina said in a statement released by the presidency Sunday morning.

"Dialogue is the only way forward and the only solution to the crisis currently facing the country," he said, calling for "unity".

Officers of the gendarmerie, which has been accused of violence against protesters, on Sunday morning released a video statement recognising "faults and excesses during our interventions" and calling for "fraternity" between the army and the gendarmes.

"We are here to protect, not to terrorise," they said, adding that "from now on, all orders will come solely" from the gendarmerie's headquarters.

Saturday's demonstration in the capital Antananarivo was one of the biggest since the protest movement erupted on September 25, sparked by anger over power and water shortages.

The government on Sunday night ensured that Rajoelina remained "in the country" and was "managing national affairs", while the newly appointed prime minister said the government was "standing strong" and "ready to collaborate and listen".

The soldiers calling on the military to desist from cracking down on protesters were from the CAPSAT contingentof administrative and technical officers in the Soanierana district on the outskirts of Antananarivo.

The Soanierana military base in 2009 led a mutiny during a popular uprising that brought Rajoelina to power.

It was unclear how many soldiers joined their call Saturday.