Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina said on Tuesday he had dissolved the lower house of parliament, escalating a standoff with youth-led protesters and the military that forced him to flee the island.

A presidency decree on Facebook said the 51-year-old Rajoelina had consulted with the leaders of the National Assembly and the upper house Senate, but the legality of his gambit was unclear.

In a defiant address from an undisclosed location on Monday evening, Rajoelina refused to step down despite weeks of Gen Z protests demanding his resignation and widespread defections in the army. 

Rajoelina said he had been forced to move to a safe place because of threats to his life. An opposition official, a military source and a foreign diplomat told Reuters he had fled the country on Sunday aboard a French military plane.

In a separate post on X, Rajoelina said the decision to dissolve the national assembly, which would pave the way for new elections to be held in 60 days at the earliest, was "necessary to restore order" in Madagascar.

"The people must be heard once again. It's time for the youth," he said.

However, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly disputed it. "This decree is not legally valid ... the president of the National Assembly says he was not consulted," said Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, who is also the assembly vice president.  

ESCALATING DEMONSTRATIONS

The opposition has been trying to gather enough signatures to launch impeachment proceedings against Rajoelina in parliament, where the ruling coalition commands a majority.

Demonstrations erupted in the country on September 25 over water and power shortages and quickly escalated into an uprising over broader grievances, including corruption, bad governance and a lack of basic services.

The anger mirrored recent protests against ruling elites elsewhere, including Nepal and Morocco. 

On Tuesday, at Antananarivo’s 13 May Square, along the main drag lined with palm trees and French colonial buildings, thousands of protesters danced, marched, sang songs and waved banners denouncing Rajoelina as a French stooge because of his dual citizenship and support from Madagascar's former coloniser.

Many were waving Malagasy flags and the signature Gen Z protest banner of a skull and crossbones from the Japanese "One Piece" anime series.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that constitutional order must be preserved and that while France understood the grievances of the youth, they should not be exploited by military factions.

Rajoelina has appeared increasingly isolated after losing the support of CAPSAT, an elite unit which had helped him to seize power in a 2009 coup. 

CAPSAT joined the protesters over the weekend, saying it would refuse to fire on them and escorting thousands of demonstrators in the main square of the capital Antananarivo. 

It later said it was taking charge of the military and appointed a new army chief, prompting Rajoelina to warn on Sunday of an attempt to seize power. 

The paramilitary gendarmerie and the police have since broken ranks with the president.

Madagascar, where the average age is less than 20, has a population of about 30-million, three-quarters of whom live in poverty. GDP per capita plunged 45% from the time of independence in 1960 to 2020, according to the World Bank.