Description: Protesters took to the streets in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, due to constant electricity blackouts and water shortages across several districts of the large Indian ocean island country. Protesters looted stores, banks and private businesses setting tires on fire, while the police used rubber bullets and tear gas to quash the demonstrations. General Angelo Ravelonarivo, who is the chief of a joint security service in the country comprised of police and military forces, stated that the government has imposed curfew to quell the demonstrations and prevent them from escalating or spreading. The homes of politicians close to President Andry Rajoelina were also looted while the offices of the country’s electricity and water departments were also attacked in other parts of the country. Protesters waived the One Piece anime flag, a Gen Z uprising symbol which has become the centerpiece of resistance movements across Asia in countries such as Nepal and Indonesia.
Impact: The Gen Z protests and civil uprisings have become the foundation of challenging and contesting governments across Asia and the wider Global South region. Madagascar’s population has experienced unprecedented economic instability as projected 75% of the population lived on the brink of poverty, according to previous estimates by the World Bank, with water and energy shortages aggravating the situation even further. The imposition of the curfew, much alike the protests in Ladakh, India, represents a temporary measure for quelling the demonstrations. The potential for civil unrest and wider political crisis persists in case the government doesn’t undertake severe measures for improving the crises with basic energy and water supply and the overall economic instability in the country.