The leader of Madagascar’s military rebellion said Wednesday that he is “taking the position of president” in an interview with The Associated Press, adding that armed forces would be in charge of the Indian Ocean island for between 18 months and two years before any new elections are held.

Col. Michael Randrianirina, who led a mutiny by soldiers that ousted President Andry Rajoelina, said he expects to be sworn in as the country’s new leader in the next few days.

“There must be an oath-taking” to make his position official, Randrianirina said in an interview while flanked by other military officers.

The protests reached a turning point on Saturday when Randrianirina and soldiers from his elite CAPSAT military unit rebelled against Rajoelina and joined demonstrations calling for the president to step down, forcing Rajoelina to flee.

“We had to take responsibility yesterday because there is nothing left in the country, no president, no president in the senate, no government,” Randrianirina said.

Rajoelina, who has been president since 2018, said he had fled to a safe place in fear for his life after the rebellion by Randrianirina’s soldiers.

He has rejected the military takeover as an illegal coup attempt by a rebel faction.

Randrianirina said the new military leadership would quickly appoint a new prime minister who would form a government, but didn’t give an exact time frame for that to happen.

Madagascans have seen their country roiled by several coups and attempted coups since gaining independence from France in 1960.

The Indian Ocean island has also struggled with high levels of poverty ever since.

A 2009 military-led coup brought Rajoelina to power as a transitional leader, when the president had cast himself as a champion of the youth.

There was no significant immediate reaction to the takeover by the international community or the African Union, which had called an emergency meeting for its security council on Tuesday.

AP video by Nqobile Ntshangase