Aug 24, 2020
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The West African emissaries on Monday continued arduous discussions with the junta in power for a week in Mali, on the conditions for a return to civil order in the country in turmoil.
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The soldiers, faced with protests on social networks against the reported content of these talks when they had been rather spared until then by their compatriots, hastened to ensure that “nothing (was) decided”, a few moments before sitting down in front of the high-level delegation sent by the Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Sources within the West African mission lent the military the project of a three-year transition, led by one of their own who would assume the functions of head of state. In their minds, according to these sources, a government made up of soldiers and civilians would be put in place.
A position far from the deadline “reasonable” in which the junta promised general elections on the evening of the August 18 coup. Also remote from the requirement of “immediate return to constitutional order” which is that of the ECOWAS, deeply concerned by the effect produced by the putsch in a country plagued for years by a serious security, economic and political crisis.
“I would like to point out that at this stage of discussions with the ECOWAS mediation team, nothing has been decided”, declared with firmness Colonel Ismaël Wagué, spokesperson for the soldiers gathered around the new strong man, Colonel Assimi Goïta.
“At no time did we speak of a government with a military majority”, he said. “Any decision relating to the size of the transition, to the transitional president, to the formation of the government, will be made between Malians” and will give rise to a “consultation massive”, he assured the journalists gathered in front of the Ministry of Defense where the talks were to resume.
New summit
One of the members of the West African delegation, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, president of the ECOWAS Commission, expressed on Sunday the hope of finalizing the discussions by Monday. He noted the “will to really move forward” soldiers.
The delegation recalls at the same time that ECOWAS has coercive means. The heads of state of the organization, already meeting in virtual extraordinary summit Thursday, must consult again this Wednesday August 26 and will have to decide, according to the results obtained in Bamako, to reinforce or to lighten the measures taken in the aftermath of the coup.
ECOWAS has already decided to close the borders of its member states with Mali. The country, faced with a deep slump, a humanitarian crisis and state failure, in addition to the spread of jihadism and intercommunal violence, does not need such sanctions.
In March 2012, a previous coup d’état, led by officers against a political power accused of ineptitude in the face of recent Tuareg and jihadist rebellions, precipitated the rout of the army and a descent into hell which continues today. , despite the support of a worried international community and the deployment of UN, French and African forces.
Violence has since spread to central Mali and neighboring countries.
The junta ended at the time by giving in to international pressure and transferring power to interim civil authorities. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was elected president in August 2013 and re-elected in 2018.
The fate of Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta
The ousted President Keïta, held responsible for the ills of his country, had been facing a strong protest in the streets since April by a motley coalition. It was ultimately the military who overthrew him.
Another initial requirement of Mali’s neighbors, the reestablishment of Mr. Keïta in office seems less topical.
His fate seems to be one of the subjects on which, according to former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan at the head of the West African mission, the latter and the junta reconciled points of view on Sunday.
The junta that detains the 75-year-old leader has accepted that he return home and if necessary leave the country for medical treatment, said a source in the West African delegation.
There was nothing to indicate that Mr. Keïta, in good health according to the delegation which saw him on Saturday, had returned home on Monday.
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