Coup Atlas Research Database
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58011182006AttemptedMilitary coup

Madagascar, 2006 — military coup attempt

Madagascar (MDG)East Africa, AfricaNovember 18, 2006

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as an attempted military coup in Madagascar on 18 November 2006 during the tense run up to the December 2006 presidential election, in which President Marc Ravalomanana was seeking a second term. Madagascar had been convulsed by a bitter political crisis in 2002 when Ravalomanana, a wealthy businessman, disputed the election results and eventually prevailed over the longtime incumbent Didier Ratsiraka after months of standoff. In November 2006, on the eve of the new election, a former army general, Andrianafidisoa, known as General Fidy, declared an attempted coup, calling on the military to rise against Ravalomanana and reportedly seeking to disrupt the vote.

The putsch attracted little support and quickly failed; Fidy went into hiding and was later arrested. Ravalomanana won the December election and continued in office. But his rule grew increasingly authoritarian and resented, and in early 2009 he was overthrown in a far more serious crisis, when mass protests led by the young Antananarivo mayor Andry Rajoelina, backed by a mutinous military, forced him from power and into exile.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Marc Ravalomanana survived the November 2006 coup attempt by General Fidy and won reelection
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Marc Ravalomanana (president of Madagascar, target)
General Andrianafidisoa (General Fidy, coup attempt leader)

Sources

Marc Ravalomanana became president of Madagascar after the disputed 2002 election crisis with Didier Ratsiraka.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Marc Ravalomanana open source ↗
In November 2006, ahead of the presidential election, a coup attempt was declared against Ravalomanana.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Marc Ravalomanana open source ↗
Ravalomanana won the December 2006 presidential election.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Marc Ravalomanana open source ↗
Ravalomanana was overthrown in early 2009 amid mass protests led by Andry Rajoelina and a military mutiny.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Marc Ravalomanana open source ↗

Editorial Note

Dataset date 18 November 2006 corresponds to the November 2006 coup attempt against Ravalomanana ahead of the December election; the precise details and the plotter's identity (General Fidy) are lightly documented in accessible English sources this session and flagged, while the attempt, its failure, and the context are verified. First Madagascar record in the dataset run; paired with the November 2010 record in this batch.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
58011182006

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Marc Ravalomanana survived the November 2006 coup attempt by General Fidy and won reelection.

Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

UPI Newstrack

“General attempts coup in Madagascar,” November 18, 2006

New York Times

“Soldier Killed in Pre-Election Gunfire in Madagascar,” November 19, 2006

BBC Monitoring Africa

“Madagascar: Eight presidential candidates offer support to renegade general,” November 23, 2006

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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