Madagascar's president dissolves parliament, escalating the crisis

Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina dissolved the national assembly with immediate effect on Tuesday, the presidency said in a statement published on Facebook.

The move escalates a standoff between the president, youth-led protesters, and the military which forced him to flee the country.

It also pre-empts a planned opposition-led vote to force him out of office over the island nation's spiralling political crisis.

In the post, Rajoelina said he had consulted with the leaders of the assembly and the Senate, but it was not immediately clear if the move was legal.

On Monday, it was reported that the president had left the country on Sunday evening after factions of the army rallied behind Gen Z protesters.

They have been leading mass demonstrations against the crippling water and electricity outages since late last month, engulfing Madagascar in a political crisis.

His sacking of the country's energy minister and later the entire government in late September did little to quell the unrest.

Groups of soldiers joined the youth-led movement in the capital, Antananarivo, over the weekend saying they would refuse orders to shoot.

Addressing the nation later on Monday from an undisclosed location, Rajoelina said he had to leave the country for fear of his life after an assassination attempt.