At least 1,000 protesters marched in Madagascar's capital on Thursday where police fired tear gas to try to disperse the new anti-government demonstration in a youth-led movement that started two weeks ago.

The fresh protest came after the Gen Z movement rejected President Andry Rajoelina's attempts to defuse the tensions rocking the Indian Ocean island by appointing a new prime minister and calling for dialogue.

The protesters, some wearing gas and diving masks, gathered near Lake Anosy and started marching towards the Ambohijatovo Gardens in the city centre, which has been dubbed Democracy Square, AFP reporters said.

Security forces fired tear gas and arrested some of the marchers.

The protests erupted on September 25 in anger over power and water shortages in Madagascar.

New cabinet

After adopting a conciliatory tone and dismissing his entire government, Rajoelina appointed a military officer as prime minister on October 6.

Stating the country "no longer needs disturbances", his first appointments to his new cabinet were to the ministries of the armed forces, public security and the gendarmerie.

The 51-year-old president disputed on Thursday a UN toll issued on September 29 that at least 22 people had been killed in the first days of the protest movement.

"There have been 12 confirmed deaths and all of these individuals were looters and vandals," he said on the French television Reunion La Premiere.

In its toll, the UN rights office said some of the victims were protesters or bystanders killed by security forces while others died in violence sparked by criminal gangs and looters in the wake of the demonstrations.

Formal charges

Twenty-eight protesters have been referred to the prosecutor's office for formal charges, their lawyers said Wednesday.

The protest movement has issued Rajoelina with a list of demands that includes a public apology for the violence against them but does not mention previous calls for him to step down.