By Sarah Caldwell
Madagascar: Gen Z protests have toppled another government this month — this time in Madagascar. The widespread, youth-led protests began in Antananarivo in late September, with Gen Z groups mobilizing around the government’s failure to address power outages and water shortages across the island. As the government fought back against protestors, the demonstrations quickly turned into a more violent display of discontent with President Rajoelina’s administration and its service failures, alleged corruption, and political nepotism.
The protests reached their most pivotal moment when the nation’s elite army unit, CAPSAT, defected from the government and joined the people. CAPSAT is the same special force group responsible for the Coup d’État that secured Rajoelina his first go at the presidency in 2009; he ran that transitional government until 2014, then returned to power in 2019 despite widespread discontent.
At present, President Rajoelina has fled the country to an undisclosed ‘safe location.’ He has yet to relinquish power, despite being impeached by the parliament, and announced over X that he had decided to dissolve the national assembly – his statements fell on deaf ears, as CAPSAT general Michael Randrianirina took control of the country and suspended all governmental institutions except the lower house of parliament. The military leaders have since announced that there will be a two-year renovation period, followed by a referendum to establish a constitution and new institutions.
“Crowds outside cheered, shouted. They welcomed this announcement,” reported an Al-Jazeera correspondent in the capital. “So far, we’ve not seen any rejection of the army taking over.” The United Nations and African Union, however, have condemned the actions of the country’s newest leaders as unconstitutional. The African Union suspended Madagascar from its body after it was announced that Randrianirina would be sworn in as president.
Madagascar has now become the latest country to see the success of youth-led movements in unseating government leaders. The island nation of thirty-two million people has also become the sixth former French colony to fall under military control over the last five years, with coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Gabon, and Guinea.
Syria: After ten months of ambiguity from the provisional government, Syria has held its first democratic elections since the fall of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad. The country’s interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, assumed power shortly after the dictator’s ousting and promised free, fair, and fast elections, forming a democratically elected government representative of all Syrians.
Al-Sharaa, will soon choose one-third of the 210-seat assembly; the remaining two-thirds having been selected through province-based electoral colleges, with seats distributed by population. October’s election results, however, have faced mounting criticism for the severely inadequate representation of women and religious minorities in the new parliament. Further, the vote is still postponed indefinitely in Druze and Kurdish-majority provinces, leaving a large percentage of seats unfilled.
Even still, many Syrians have hope that the country is taking the only possible steps in the right direction. “This is the first time I’ve ever voted in my life,” Damascus-based doctor Lina Daaboul told the Guardian. “I’m happy, and I don’t mind standing in line for a long time.”
Peru: The Andean country’s president, Dina Boluarte, was unanimously impeached by the Peruvian parliament this month. Boluarte had an approval rating of 2 to 4% during her last months in power, as she faced accusations of illicitly profiting from her office and failing to address the disproportionate crime rate increase of recent years.
Boluarte was replaced by Jose Jeri, the leader of the parliament, from the conservative Somos Peru party. Jeri, 38, joined the parliament in 2021 and became its leader in July. During his short career, he has faced multiple allegations of sexual assault and of asking companies for payments in return for favors.
In his first address to parliament, Jeri declared a ‘war on crime,’ vowing to crack down on criminal gangs and violent Gen-Z-led protests. Two weeks later, he declared a 30-day state of emergency in Lima after anti-government, anti-corruption protests heightened significantly. Jeri will attempt to lead the interim government until scheduled elections can be held in six months.
Czech Republic: The pro-Russia, pro-Trump party ANO (YES) has regained control of the Czech parliament following elections this month. Populist billionaire, and self-proclaimed “Trumpist”, Andrej Babiš will once again serve as Prime Minister of the country, after losing to the pro-Western coalition of current Prime Minister Petr Fiala in 2021.
Babiš’s ANO party received 35% of the popular vote amidst record turnout in the Central European nation of almost eleven million citizens. ANO will now seek to form a coalition with the anti-immigrant party, Freedom and Direct Democracy, and the rightwing Motorists party in order to further a pro-Russia, anti-austerity agenda.
The election results will have significant implications for Ukraine, as Babiš has promised to join Hungary and Slovakia in refusing aid for the country. The election results in the Czech Republic, and the ever-switching perspective of American President, Donald Trump, leave Europe more divided than ever over the conflict taking place on its own soil.
Taiwan: This month, Taiwan’s main opposition party, Kuomintang (KMT), elected a new and staunchly pro-China leader. Cheng Li-wun will now lead the party currently holding enough seats to form a majority bloc in the legislature.
Li-wun campaigned against the president’s proposed, US-backed increases to defense spending, noting that the country must maintain a strong relationship with its neighbor China. Chinese president Xi Jinping congratulated Li-wun, expressing his expectations for the two parties to strengthen their common political foundation and “advance national reunification.”
The ruling party and members of KMT that campaigned against Li-wun have denounced the election results, citing evidence of over-reaching Chinese influence. The head of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau also shared reports of widespread election misinformation posted on social media from accounts based outside of Taiwan. Critics, outside and within her party, are now afraid that as leader, Li-wun would bring Taiwan closer to Chinese annexation than ever before.
Moldova: “You made your choice clear: Europe. Democracy. Freedom,” tweeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen following the official results of the October parliament elections in Moldova. The pro-EU, anti-Russian, socialist Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) came out of the election with a sizable lead in parliament, where the socialists will now be able to form a government without relying on the support of any other party.
PAS won over 50% of the vote with a record voter turnout, despite large-scale reports of Russian interference, including: bomb threats, disinformation and fake news shared on social media, and efforts to buy votes, as reported by the country’s police. Moldova, along with its neighbor Ukraine, was granted EU candidate status in 2022 — a status which, for both countries in 2025, looks closer than ever to full ascendance into an EU member state.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and may not reflect the opinions of The St Andrews Economist.
Image Credit: AP News