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CAPSAT (Corps d'administration des personnels et des services administratifs et techniques)

The elite Malagasy army unit known as CAPSAT (Corps d'administration des personnels et des services administratifs et techniques) mutinied against President Andry Rajoelina's government in October 2025. This same unit helped Rajoelina seize power in a coup in 2009. The October 2025 unrest began with youth-led protests over water and power cuts and has since escalated into broader anti-corruption demonstrations. On Saturday, October 11, 2025, soldiers from the CAPSAT unit joined protesters in the capital city of Antananarivo and urged other soldiers to disobey orders. On Sunday, CAPSAT officers declared they had taken control of all armed forces in the country and appointed a new army chief. Rajoelina's office denounced the move as an illegal power grab. As of Monday, October 13, 2025, news outlets reported that the president had fled the country, though his office initially claimed he remained in control.

In a video statement on October 12, 2025, CAPSAT officers declared they were taking control of the entire Malagasy military and that all orders would now come from their headquarters. CAPSAT appointed a new army chief of staff, General Demosthene Pikulas, on October 12. Defense Minister Manantsoa Deramasinjaka Rakotoarivelo, appointed by President Rajoelina just days earlier, was present at the installation ceremony and reportedly gave his blessing. CAPSAT sided with demonstrators protesting against the government's handling of power and water shortages, high unemployment, corruption, and the rising cost of living.

there is a parallel between Stalin's consolidation of power through personnel control and CAPSAT's demonstrated influence in Madagascar, though they operate on very different scales and with different tools. Both cases illustrate how controlling the bureaucracy and appointments can be a potent method for controlling an entire organization and ultimately, political outcomes.

It is widely acknowledged by historians that Joseph Stalin effectively used control over personnel to consolidate his power and exert control over both the Communist Party and Soviet politics. In 1922, Stalin was appointed to the seemingly bureaucratic position of General Secretary of the Communist Party. However, he used this role to control appointments, promotions, and demotions within the party and government. By systematically appointing loyalists to key positions and eliminating opponents, he ensured his own political dominance and created a climate of fear that crushed dissent.

Stalin's methods of control were totalitarian and extended over an entire nation. His purges were widespread, brutal, and designed to eliminate any potential opposition, both real and imagined. CAPSAT's control is more targeted, focusing on the military apparatus and wielding its influence at key political junctures. It acts as a powerful institutional player rather than a dictator controlling all aspects of national life. In essence, while both cases illustrate the power of controlling personnel, Stalin used this control to establish a brutal, dictatorial regime, while CAPSAT uses it to exert significant, and often decisive, political influence within Madagascar's military establishment.

Calling CAPSAT in Madagascar a "Praetorian Guard" is a useful comparison, as both military units exerted significant influence over politics despite not being the main fighting force. CAPSAT has been described as a "kingmaker" by analysts, highlighting its influence. A key difference is that CAPSAT’s power comes from its control of logistical and administrative functions within the Malagasy armed forces, including personnel and promotions. This mirrors the Praetorian Guard’s ability to use its unique status to advance its interests, though the functions themselves are different. The Praetorian Guard’s status was tied to the emperor’s person, while CAPSAT’s is rooted in its internal military function.

While not a front-line combat unit, CAPSAT (Corps d'administration des personnels et des services administratifs et techniques) manages key aspects of the army. Its responsibilities include personnel management, administrative support, logistics, and technical services. This control of day-to-day operations gives it significant leverage and power within the military structure. CAPSAT is led by influential figures from the gendarmerie who have close ties to business and other elites within Madagascar.

The Corps d'administration des personnels et des services administratifs et techniques, or Administrative Corps for Personnel and Administrative & Technical Services, is part of Madagascar's Armed Forces structure, which includes an Army of approximately 12,500 personnel, a Navy of 500, an Air Force of 500, and a National Gendarmerie of 8,100 members as of 2017. CAPSAT operates as a distinct entity within the Army rather than being part of the Gendarmerie. The unit has occasionally been in tension with the Gendarmerie, particularly regarding tactics used against civilians during protests.

At the time of the 2009 mutiny, Camp CAPSAT soldiers numbered approximately 600 personnel. While current exact figures are not publicly available from recent sources, the unit maintains its status as an elite contingent within the Madagascar military structure. CAPSAT is specifically described as a contingent of administrative and technical officers, which distinguishes it from regular combat units. CAPSAT is purely military and has nothing to do with educational administration.

The CAPSAT contingent is based in the Soanierana district on the outskirts of Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital. Camp CAPSAT is located near the capital, positioned along main roads leading to Antananarivo. This strategic location has made the base significant in times of political crisis, as it can effectively control access to the capital city.

The exact founding date of CAPSAT is not explicitly documented in available sources, but its establishment appears to be connected to the post-independence development of Madagascar's military structure. Madagascar gained independence from France on June 26, 1960, and subsequently constituted a national army with a force of 5,000 personnel distributed across two combined arms regiments and a gendarmerie. The administrative and technical services, which CAPSAT represents, would have been established as part of this military framework development in the years following independence.

Madagascar's Armed Forces, known in Malagasy as Tafika Malagasy, were officially founded on May 14, 1960, just before formal independence. CAPSAT likely emerged as a specialized administrative unit within this structure, developed to handle personnel management and technical services for the growing national military.

CAPSAT has played a pivotal role in Madagascar's turbulent political history, particularly during times of crisis and regime change.

The 2009 Camp CAPSAT mutiny was a defining moment in the unit's history. On March 8, 2009, Camp CAPSAT mutinied and declared they did not support the government's actions during a violent dispute between President Marc Ravalomanana and former Antananarivo mayor Andry Rajoelina. This mutiny led directly to the ousting of President Ravalomanana on March 17, 2009, and to the nomination of Andry Rajoelina as President of the High Transitional Authority on March 21, 2009.

During the 2009 mutiny, CAPSAT soldiers broke out of their military base, seized a main road leading to the capital, and established a roadblock. The unit played a major role in bringing Rajoelina to power for the first time through this 2009 coup.

In October 2025, the Soanierana military base, home to CAPSAT, once again led a mutiny during a popular uprising, this time against the same President Rajoelina whom they had helped install in 2009. On October 11, 2025, CAPSAT joined thousands of protesters in central Antananarivo, declaring they would "refuse orders to shoot" at demonstrators and criticizing the Gendarmerie for heavy-handed tactics that caused several deaths.

In a video statement, CAPSAT officers claimed that "from now on, all orders of the Malagasy army – whether land, air or naval – will originate from CAPSAT headquarters." General Demosthene Pikulas, the former head of the military academy, was installed by CAPSAT as the new army chief during a ceremony attended by the Armed Forces Minister.

As an administrative and technical unit, CAPSAT's primary peacetime functions include personnel administration for the armed forces, management of military records and documentation, coordination of technical services within the military structure, and oversight of administrative procedures for military personnel. These administrative officers handle the bureaucratic and logistical operations that keep Madagascar's military functioning.

CAPSAT officers have stated that "because they are non-commissioned officers, they say they are part of the population and experience the same difficulties" as civilians, including power and water cuts. This sentiment reflects the unit's unique position as military personnel who maintain close connections to civilian concerns due to their administrative rather than purely combat-oriented roles.

Madagascar has had several leaders removed in coups and has a turbulent history of political crises since gaining independence from France in 1960. Madagascar's army has a long history of intervening in politics during crises, and since independence it has backed or led several power shifts, including coups in the 1970s and in 2009.

CAPSAT's willingness to intervene during political crises reflects broader patterns in Madagascar's civil-military relations. The unit appears to position itself as a defender of popular interests during times when civilian leadership loses legitimacy. This pattern was evident both in 2009, when it helped oust an unpopular president, and in 2025, when it sided with youth-led protesters demanding the resignation of the president it had previously helped install.

CAPSAT represents an unusual phenomenon in military structures: an administrative unit that wields significant political influence during times of crisis. Unlike combat units primarily focused on external defense or internal security operations, CAPSAT's role as an administrative corps gives it insight into the functioning of the entire military apparatus while maintaining connections to civilian concerns through its personnel management responsibilities.

The unit's repeated interventions in Madagascar's politics underscore the fragility of civilian control over the military in the country and the continuing influence of military institutions in shaping political outcomes. Madagascar has had a turbulent political history since independence, and although rich in natural resources, nearly three-quarters of the population of 32 million lived below the poverty line in 2022, according to the World Bank. This economic distress creates conditions in which military units like CAPSAT may feel compelled to intervene on behalf of suffering populations.

The Corps d'Administration du Personnel de l'Armée et des Services Administratifs et Techniques thus occupies a unique position in Madagascar's military and political landscape—simultaneously a bureaucratic administrative unit and a kingmaker capable of determining the fate of presidents and governments.