- The Coalition of 10 political parties of Mali rejected the military-led government’s plan for a slow transition lasting up to five years for the country to return to democratic rule.
- The coalition alleged that the plan is a violation of the transition charter and rejected the unilateral and unreasonable timetable.
- Coalition spokesman Sekou Niame Bathily denounced the proposal and told that the parties would boycott the military government’s plan.
The Coalition of 10 political parties of Mali rejected the military-led government’s plan for a slow transition lasting up to five years for the country to return to democratic rule. The coalition alleged that the plan is a violation of the transition charter and rejected the unilateral and unreasonable timetable. Coalition spokesman Sekou Niame Bathily denounced the proposal and told that the parties would boycott the military government’s plan.
Mali has been under the control of the army since August 2020. France and countries bordering Mali forced the military leader Goita’s to pledge that Mali would return to democratic civilian rule next month following presidential and legislative elections. Thwarting the transition plan, Goita staged another coup in May 2021 which forced out interim civilian leaders and pushed back the transition timeline. He later promised West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS that he would provide it with an election timetable for elections by January 2022. On January 2nd Mali’s military junta announced its plan to extend its rule for five more years, postponing the next presidential election until 2026 despite a deadline of next month set by West African regional mediators. It said it proposes to hold a constitutional referendum in 2023 and a legislative election in 2025.
The response from ECOWAS is awaited after its extraordinary summit on Mali in Ghana’s capital Accra.
It had threatened to impose sanctions on Mali’s ruling junta for postponing the elections.
