Madagascar names anticorruption chief as PM days after cabinet dissolved
President announces Mamitiana Rajaonarison as prime minister after Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo was dismissed.
Share
Save
Madagascar’s President Michael Randrianirina, who seized power in October, has appointed the country’s anticorruption chief as prime minister, barely a week after dissolving the cabinet.
The presidency said on Sunday that Mamitiana Rajaonarison, a former senior gendarmerie officer and career civil administrator, would head the new government.
Recommended Stories
- list 1 of 3Madagascar’s Randrianirina promises ‘profound change’
- list 2 of 3Madagascar’s new prime minister named after military coup
- list 3 of 3Madagascar cyclone death toll hits 40, 16,000 displaced; Mozambique braces
Colonel Randrianirina, who promised a string of reforms after he took power last year, said Rajaonarison would lead the government “on a clean path” and restore hope.
“The Malagasy nation needs bold decisions. We are now at a turning point,” Randrianirina said at a ceremony in the presidential palace broadcast on state television.
“This country needs a person of integrity, a person of principle, incorruptible and who cannot be bought with money.”
Randrianirina said “integrity” is what he expects from Rajaonarison in the post of prime minister.
The appointment came after Randrianirina dismissed Prime Minister Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo and all other cabinet ministers last Monday, offering no explanation for the move.
Rajaonarivelo, drawn from the private sector, had been appointed in October shortly after Randrianirina seized power during protests that forced former President Andry Rajoelina to flee.
The new prime minister, Rajaonarison, has led the Financial Intelligence Unit (SAMIFIN), which combats illicit financial flows, money laundering and terrorism financing, since 2021.
He is expected to announce his new cabinet shortly.
In September, demonstrations against water and power shortages on the Indian Ocean island snowballed into a protest movement that the government failed to stop with a crackdown that resulted in several casualties.
When Randrianirina’s army unit mutinied and joined the protesters from the “Gen Z” movement, former President Rajoelina fled with the help of France.
The colonel has rejected accusations of a coup, insisting the Constitutional Court “transferred power” to him. He has pledged a two-year transition, outlined in a roadmap released at the end of February.
Since taking power, Randrianirina has led what he calls a “Refoundation”, framing the agenda as a reset aimed at restoring state authority, fighting corruption and rebuilding public trust.
His transition plan calls for broad national consultations through 2026, the drafting of a new constitution, and presidential elections scheduled for late 2027.
Analysts and members of the Gen Z movement that spearheaded last year’s protests said Rajaonarivelo’s sacking came as a surprise, though some see deeper currents at play.
“I do not believe that this decision was taken entirely on the spur of the moment or solely under pressure from a particular group,” analyst and researcher Velomahanina Razakamaharavo, of the University of Reading, told the AFP news agency, saying calls for deeper reform and online campaigns were shaping the political climate.
"All the Empty Rooms" wins Oscar for Steve Hartman's project memorializing children killed in school shootings
March 15, 2026 / 10:49 PM EDT / CBS News
The documentary "All the Empty Rooms," which memorialized children killed in school shootings through a look at the bedrooms they never returned to, took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Short at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday.
The film follows CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp along their seven-year journey to document the toll of America's school shooting epidemic. Director Joshua Seftel accepted the Oscar on stage alongside Hartman, producer Conall Jones and Gloria Cazares, whose daughter Jackie was killed in the Uvalde school shooting in 2022.
"The four empty rooms in our film belonged to four young children who were all killed in school shootings: Hallie, Gracie, Dominic and Jackie," Seftel told the crowd before passing the mic to Cazares.
Wearing red dress and a pin with an image of Jackie, Cazares spoke of her 9-year-old daughter and appealed for an end to gun violence.
"Since that day, her bedroom has been frozen in time," Cazares said. "Jackie is more than just a headline. She is our light and our life. Gun violence is now the number one cause of death in kids and teens. We believe that if the world could see their empty bedrooms, we'd be a different America."
When Hartman traveled to Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School, Cazares told him that people are always telling her that they can't imagine what she's going through. But she said we need to imagine, and that's why she invited Hartman and Bopp into her home.
"It just makes everything more real for the public, for the world," Carazes said at the time. "Her room completely just speaks of who she was."
In Jackie's room, there was the chocolate she had saved for a day that never came, and an "About Me" chalkboard where she wrote that she wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up.
Many of the children's rooms, like Jackie's, remained virtually untouched, years after the shootings.
"Their personalities shone through in the smallest details of their untouched rooms — hair ties on a doorknob, a toothpaste tube left uncapped, a ripped ticket for a school event — allowing me to uncover glimpses as to who they were," Bopp said in an essay about the project in 2024.
Explore the rooms:
Unmade beds and overdue books: Photographing the rooms of kids killed in school shootings
More from CBS "Sunday Morning":
Standing on the threshold of grief, documenting the bedrooms of kids killed in school shootings
Missed watching the 2026 Oscars? Here's how to watch the awards show now.
Updated on: March 15, 2026 / 10:59 PM EDT / CBS News
"Sinners" came into the 2026 Oscars with the most nominations ever, 16, but it was "One Battle After Another" that took home marquee awards like Best Picture and Best Director on Sunday night. Here's how to watch and what to know about the 98th annual Academy Awards.
Where to watch the Oscars with cable
The 98th annual Academy Awards were broadcast live on ABC stations, as well as on international networks worldwide, on Sunday, March 15, 2026.
How to stream the Oscars
The Oscars streamed live on Hulu and was available live on ABC.com and the ABC app if those services were connected to your regular TV provider. Other streaming services like YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and FuboTV also carried the show.
The Oscars will be available to stream Monday on ABC.com and Hulu for those who missed it live.
Who were the Oscar nominees?
"Sinners" was eyeing a big night after nabbing a record-breaking 16 nominations, including for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor. Michael B. Jordan brought home the golden statue for taking on the dual roles of twin brothers Smoke and Stack, and Autumn Durald Arkapaw won for Best Cinematography, the first woman to win the award in Oscar history.
"One Battle After Another" was also up for a slew of top awards, winning Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, the first Oscar wins for Paul Thomas Anderson after being nominated 11 times prior to this year's ceremony.
See the full list of winners and nominees here.
Go behind the scenes to see excerpts of performances and highlights of CBS News interviews with nominees in these top categories:
- Best Picture
- Best Actor
- Best Actress
- Best Supporting Actor
- Best Supporting Actress
Who hosted the Oscars?
Former late-night TV host Conan O'Brien handled hosting duties at the Academy Awards for a second straight year.
O'Brien took over as master of ceremonies for the show last year following a two-year stint from fellow comedian and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who has hosted the Oscars a total of four times.
Matt Berry, the star of TV shows such as "The IT Crowd," "What We Do in the Shadows" and "Toast of London," was the announcer for the Oscars this year.
Where were the Oscars held?
The 2026 Oscars were held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
