Madagascar’s president dissolves parliament, escalating the crisis

Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina dissolved the national assembly with immediate effect on Tuesday, the presidency said in a statement published on Facebook.

The move escalates a standoff between the president, youth-led protesters, and the military which forced him to flee the country.

It also pre-empts a planned opposition-led vote to force him out of office over the island nation’s spiralling political crisis.

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