Former Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina, who was deposed in a coup last week, has had his citizenship revoked by the country’s new rulers.

The decree, issued by new Prime Minister Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, referenced national laws stating that anyone who acquires a foreign nationality automatically forfeits their Malagasy citizenship.

Rajoelina, aged 51, obtained French citizenship ten years ago, a revelation that had sparked demands for his exclusion from the 2023 presidential race. Despite this, he refused to step aside and ultimately secured victory.

Following weeks of unrest over chronic power and water shortages, Rajoelina fled Madagascar after a military faction led by Col Michael Randrianirina seized control.

He has since claimed that he went into hiding “for his own safety,” and his current location remains unknown.

When Rajoelina revealed his French citizenship in the lead-up to the last election, he maintained that he had secretly obtained it only “to make things easier for his children studying in France.”

In the months before the coup, demonstrations initially organized by the youth movement Gen Z Mada and influenced by anti-government protests in Nepal intensified after security forces responded with violence.

Rajoelina dismissed first his energy minister and later his entire cabinet, but these actions failed to calm public anger or silence the calls for his resignation.

Protesters had hoped that he would step down voluntarily to enable a peaceful, democratic transition.

Instead, his refusal to relinquish power prompted Madagascar’s elite military unit, commanded by Randrianirina, to intervene and seize authority.

Randrianirina has since been sworn in as leader and announced the formation of a new government, vowing to organize elections within two years.