Madagascar (AFP) — Graffiti along Antananarivo’s traffic-choked roads reading “Thank you, Capsat” is a reminder of the decisive role the army unit played in protests that toppled Madagascar’s government a year ago.

The defection of Capsat soldiers to side with weeks-long Gen Z-led demonstrations that began on 25 September delivered the final blow to then-President Andry Rajoelina, who fled the following day aboard a French military plane.

The United Nations said at least 22 people were killed in the first days of the protests, some by security forces and others in violence sparked by criminal gangs and looters.

With Rajoelina gone, the military installed Capsat commander Colonel Michael Randrianirina as “President of the Refoundation of the Republic of Madagascar” with the promise of elections within two years.

One year on, young activists who spearheaded the demonstrations initially focused on chronic water and electricity cuts say there is little evidence of any “Refoundation” in the impoverished Indian Ocean island.

“The basic demands still haven’t been met,” said Mihary Rakotondravelo, a prominent Gen Z figure.

“Before coming here, I had a power cut,” he told AFP (Agence France-Presse) in an interview. “And water — even though I live right in the city center... you have to stay up quite late to get any.”

Rakotondravelo’s group is represented on national consultation committees involved in the bogged-down process of drafting a new Constitution, which the military government has committed to having in place ahead of presidential elections pledged for late 2027.

The proposals are to be presented in May before being put to a referendum, according to a timeline announced after the 16-nation regional group SADC called in August for a “return to constitutional normalcy.”