Two days after the ouster of Madagascar’s president, the desperate conditions that led the country’s young people to rise up in mass protest were as evident as their anger.

At the University of Antananarivo in the capital city, the smell of sewage filled the air in a building on campus. Hallways were dark because the electricity was out. Piles of garbage buzzing with flies lined cobblestone streets outside of government-provided student residences.

“This is the first step to be free from misery,” Fabio Tsiresy, a 24-year-old French major, said of the president’s impeachment and the military’s subsequent government takeover this week. “There’s still no water and electricity here.”

The students who led the youth movement that toppled President Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar say they are both anxious and hopeful about what comes next. A new military leader was sworn in as president on Friday, and it’s unclear if he will deliver the changes they have demanded. But many said that their situation couldn’t get much worse and that they were willing to wait and see.

So far, young Malagasy have said they are happy to have the military back in charge on this restive island nation in southern Africa. Few seem concerned that promises made by military leaders across Africa — more job opportunities, less corruption, less violence — have often been broken. Mr. Rajoelina himself came to power after a coup in 2009.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.