Madagascar Enabling Environment Snapshot

Period covered by the report: January–June 2026

In September 2025, following protests led by the Generation Z citizens’ movement – initially sparked by difficulties in accessing basic services, particularly water and electricity – and after the fall of Andry Rajoelina’s regime, Madagascar entered a transitional phase. Colonel Michaël Randrianirina seized power, establishing a regime known as the ‘refoundation’. The refoundation regime envisages a transitional period focused on institutional reform and the redefinition of relations between citizens and the public authorities. 

Against this backdrop, the political landscape remains in a state of flux. The Generation Z movement has gradually contributed to a more visible expansion of freedom of expression and civic participation, notably through public debates, social mobilisation and the use of digital platforms by the younger generation. However, several human rights organisations continue to report persistent irregularities in the exercise of civil liberties, notably the erosion of the right to demonstrate and express one’s opinions, as well as the independence of institutions.

Since January 2026, a number of significant political developments have taken place. In March 2026, the first government of the Refoundation regime was dismissed. A new Prime Minister, Rajaonarison Mamitiana Jeannot Ruffin, was appointed on 15 March. As early as 17 March, the new head of government signed an order lifting the restrictive measures imposed on civil servants since the regime came to power. 

Furthermore, the regime’s gradual hardening led, in April 2026, to the arrest of Colonel Dr Patrick Rakotomamonjy, a former high-ranking officer who was imprisoned at the Tsiafahy detention centre for attempted coup and destabilisation. The former interim president, General Richard Ravalomanana, was also arrested at his home under an arrest warrant and subsequently placed in pre-trial detention at Imerintsiatosika prison.

The Refoundation regime also launched a wide-ranging judicial offensive targeting former supporters of the ousted regime. Carried out with the support of the Minister of Justice, Fanirisoa Ernaivo, this crackdown led to the imprisonment of key figures from the former regime: the former director of presidential communications, Rinah Rakotomanga, was arrested on charges of corruption and embezzlement; and in May 2026, Naivo Raholdina, an influential MP from the former ruling party, was arrested in the middle of the night at his home, a few hours after his return from abroad. It is within this sensitive political context, marked by a crackdown that is both targeted and selective, that civil society actors are operating. Bottom of form