ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Military officers said they had staged a coup in Madagascar Wednesday, but the president and other army factions dismissed the claim.
The competing proclamations came as 7 million voters on the island nation located off the southeastern coast of Africa cast ballots on a new constitution, and the voting went on, the Voice of America reported.
Col. Charles Andrianasoavina, who announced the government takeover, was one of the officers who put President Andry Rajoelina in power in March 2009, the BBC reported.
Rajoelina, casting his referendum vote in Antananarivo, the capital, said he was unafraid of the mutineers.
Andrianasoavina said the rebels had dissolved government institutions and formed a military committee. He said they stood for national reconciliation, freedom for political prisoners and the return of exiles.
BBC correspondents said the colonel made his announcement at a military base near the airport.
Rajoelina has pushed for the new constitution, saying it restores political stability, and foreign aid and investment since the coup that brought him to power and ousted President Marc Ravalomanana.
Opposition parties led by Ravalomanana and two other former presidents have rejected the referendum and called for a boycott.
