The commander of the CAPSAT unit was to be sworn in as transitional president Friday, just three days after seizing power as the national assembly voted to impeach President Andry Rajoelina.
Among the hundreds waiting patiently in the courtyard of the CAPSAT base outside the capital, some dozing in the shade, many were wearing the pink and green straw hats that have become the Malagasy symbol of the Gen Z protests that kicked off the political turmoil.
Smart suits rubbed shoulders with worn jeans and trainers: from entrepreneurs to union leaders, youth representatives and laypeople, they were here to present the future president with an unending list of grievances and requests.
Waiting in a sleek and modern SUV, a rare sight in Antananarivo, former livestock minister and one-time presidential candidate Joseph Martin Randriamampionona told AFP he was offering himself for the position of prime minister.
But most had come to voice an array of requests or advice, like a cut in taxes, a police investigation into a certain matter, or a presidential pardon.
The wives of three employees of the national electricity company arrested in September on suspicion of fuel theft were hoping to plead their husbands' innocence and secure their release.
Two survivors of a mass poisoning incident during a birthday party in June that killed at least 32 people wanted to "demand the truth", believing the culprit was protected by Rajoelina's government.
Proponents of Madagascar's traditional customs were there to bless the colonel with a "ritual of good luck", while urging him to "put traditions back at the heart of Malagasy society and schools".
"There is no better allegory for the system than this manner in which everyone congregates to try to meet the colonel," said Elliot Randriamandrato from the Gen Z movement. "It must stop."
- Change? -
Some of the concerns expressed by the crowd were more common: an end to corruption, poverty, looting and arbitrary rule. There was also general hope for change.
"We are optimistic," said 52-year-old Charline Raharinirina, who heads a consumer association. She nevertheless intended to advocate for the "establishment of a high council for the defence of democracy and the rule of law".
"It is very important to set up this structure, especially under military rule," Raharinirina stressed.
Madagascar's history is marked by a succession of presidents ousted by the military after popular uprisings.
"It's always the same: we get rid of thieves only to appoint bandits," shrugged the former minister in his modern SUV.
But Nicolas Emilson, a spokesman for a civil society organisation associated with the Gen Z-led protest movement ignited on September 25, believed "this time, everything is different".
The 28-year-old, a teacher at Madagascar's national school of administration, said he had a 30- to 40-minute audience with Randrianirina hours after Tuesday's military takeover.
"He told us, 'Don't worry, I'll sort it all out'. His tone was very diplomatic," Emilson told AFP.
Despite the reassurances, he was back in the CAPSAT compound because, "We want the message to get through," he said.
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