General Demosthene Pikulas was installed as chief of the Army Staff during a ceremony at the army headquarters attended by armed forces minister, Manantsoa Deramasinjaka Rakotoarivelo.

"I give him my blessing," the minister said of Pikulas, who was chosen by the mutinying CAPSAT unit that on Saturday joined the youth-led demonstrators.

Earlier in the day, Rajoelina denounced an "attempt to seize power illegally".

Pikulas admitted to journalists after the ceremony that events in Madagascar over the past few days had been "unpredictable".

"So the army has a responsibility to restore calm and peace throughout Madagascar," he said.

When asked if he called for Rajoelina to resign, the new chief of Army Staff said he refused to "discuss politics within a military facility".

Rajoelina last week appointed Rakotoarivelo as minister of armed forces after he sacked his entire cabinet in a bid to quell the near-daily protests that have rocked the Indian ocean island since September 25.

CAPSAT Colonel Michael Randrianirina said his unit's decision to join the protesters did not amount to a coup.

"We answered the people's calls, but it wasn't a coup d'etat," he told reporters.

"The situation -- I can call it chaos, but it's not chaos caused by the army, it's chaos caused by the leader," he said.

strs-jcb/br/rmb