ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Madagascar’s military coup leader said Wednesday that he is “taking the position of president” in an interview with The Associated Press at his barracks.

Col. Michael Randrianirina, who led a rebellion by soldiers that ousted President Andry Rajoelina, said he expects to be sworn in as the Indian Ocean country’s new leader in the next few days.

Randrianirina announced Tuesday that the armed forces were taking power in Madagascar, capping weeks of protests against Rajoelina and his government by mainly youth groups.

He said he is taking the role as head of state after the country’s High constitutional Court invited him to do so in the absence of Rajoelina, who fled Madagascar following the uprising.

“There must be an oath-taking" to make his position official, Randrianirina said.

The protests reached a turning point on Saturday when Randrianirina and soldiers from his elite CAPSAT military unit rebelled against Rajoelina and joined demonstrations calling for the president to step down, forcing Rajoelina to flee.

“We had to take responsibility yesterday because there is nothing left in the country, no president, no president in the senate, no government,” Randrianirina said.

Rajoelina, who has been president since 2018, has rejected the military taking power as an illegal coup.

Randrianirina said the new military leadership would quickly appoint a new prime minister who would form a government, but didn’t give an exact time frame for that to happen.

“What I can say is that we are already accelerating it so that the crisis in the country does not last forever,” the colonel said.