A new government was formed on March 26th, ten days after the reappointment of the prime minister. Its composition was broad-based and was presented by Mr Rajoelina as a government of national unity. The administration comprises 32 ministers, of whom 23 are new arrivals. Including Mr Vital, a total of four former or serving army generals were given posts, indicating Mr Rajoelina's continuing dependence on the support of the military for his political survival.

Notably, some of the ministers were co-opted from Mr Ravalomanana's TIM party, including its secretary-general, Vyvato Rakotovao, who was given the agriculture portfolio. Another key appointment was that of Yves Aimé Rakotoarisoa, a former senior TIM parliamentarian who had broken with Mr Ravalomanana and signed up to the SADC roadmap. He has taken on the constitutionally important portfolio for relations with other state institutions, with the senior title of minister of state. The appointment of TIM members to the government indicates the ambivalence of the party towards the roadmap and may signal splits; Mr Ravalomanana has himself refused to sign the political transition plan.

Also notable was the appointment as minister of foreign affairs of Yvette Sylla, the widow of the late Jacques Sylla, who served as Mr Ravalomanana's first prime minister, but then joined the Rajoelina camp during the 2009 political crisis. Mr Rajoelina succeeded in persuading his former foreign minister, Ny Hasina Andriamanjato, to rejoin the cabinet, as minister for telecommunications. Mr Andriamanjato is a figurehead of moderate politics who had quit the HAT in early 2010 in protest at Mr Rajoelina's failure to form a more inclusive government.