Antananarivo: Madagascar has plunged into a deep constitutional and political crisis after President Andry Rajoelina dissolved the National Assembly on Monday, triggering an immediate response from the country’s armed forces, who declared that they were taking control of the government. The move came amid intensifying public protests and defections from the president’s once-loyal security forces, marking the gravest instability in the Indian Ocean Island nation in over a decade.

The crisis unfolded rapidly after Rajoelina issued a decree dissolving the lower house of Parliament, accusing it of plotting an unconstitutional impeachment. His decision, however, only added fuel to the growing unrest that had already engulfed Antananarivo and other major cities. The National Assembly had been

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