In Mali, the junta proposes a new timetable for the return of power to its citizens

Will the ruling coalition in Mali agree to hold elections soon? As asked Within five years On Saturday, January 8, the authorities announced that they had submitted a new plan to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a result of the May 2021 regime, before the return of power to the citizens. Foreign Affairs Abdullah Diop.

With the possibility of imposing new sanctions on Mali, ECOWAS is holding an extraordinary summit in Agra on Sunday. State television reported that Colonel Abdulla Mika, the diplomatic leader and spokesman for the Malian government, traveled to Agra on Saturday to present a new proposal to Ghana’s state president, Nana Akufo-Ado, the organisation’s current leader. He did not specify the new duration of the change proposed by the military junta.

Since the coup d’tat in August 2020 was strengthened in May 2021, Colonel Azimi has taken over as chairman of Coita. “Change”, ECOWAS is pressuring citizens to return soon. There was military rule He broke his promise Legislative and presidential elections are to be held in February.

Officers of “Change” They say they could not meet this deadline. They call the country a victim of persistent insecurity, violence of all kinds, jihadist, community, villainy and so on. .

Two plots in two years

Mali, a poor and landlocked country in the center of the Sahel, witnessed two military coups in August 2020 and May 2021. The political crisis has been accompanied by a serious security crisis since 2012 and the eruption of insurgency and independence. Jihadi in the north.

According to ECOWAS, credibility is at stake, as it protects management’s core principles, preventing the spread of trust and regional instability.

Mali’s foreign minister said on Saturday that ECOWAS mediator Goodluck Jonathan had visited Mali during the week and asked the military junta to reconsider the proposal for a 1- to 5-year transition.^{There is} January 2022. “It simply came to our notice then [le colonel Assimi Goïta], Eager to maintain conversation and good cooperation with ECOWAS, sent us to his brother [le président ghanéen] A new proposal is to be submitted to ECOWAS, He said on national television.

This is the eighth time since August 2020 that West African leaders have met face-to-face or by video conference to talk specifically about Mali, eCOWAS and the importance of Malik’s stake in the center of the Sahelian instability. , Normal nodes do not count.

The threat of new sanctions

Exceptionally, Sunday’s meeting will precede another extraordinary summit of leaders of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) in the Ghanaian capital. Eight WAEMU countries are members of ECOWAS. The pre-summit is seen as a sign of possible concerted action against Mali and perhaps of sanctions.

ECOWAS has already frozen their financial assets and imposed a travel ban on 150 people for the crime of obstructing elections. It must now be determined whether or not the compulsory measures will be strengthened.

In August 2020, ECOWAS suspended Mali from all its decision-making bodies, and the suspension is still in effect. It closed all land and air borders and barred financial and commercial transactions, except for basic necessities. In the midst of the epidemic, the embargo imposed on a poor and landlocked country was severely felt. The ban was lifted after a month and a half.