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- West African mediator for Mali, Goodluck Jonathan left the West African country without reaching an agreement with the Malian junta on the duration of the transition and a date for elections
West African mediator for Mali, Goodluck Jonathan left the West African country without reaching an agreement with the Malian junta on the duration of the transition and a date for elections. Jonathan is the former president of Nigeria (2010-2015). He had been on a mission in Bamako, capital city of Mali to continue discussions with the military-dominated authorities for re-establishing civilian rule in Mali. Mali faced two coups in August 2020 and May 2021, which has thrown the country into chaos and uncertainties.
Mali has been under ECOWAS sanctions since January. The military junta has submitted a timetable for “elections with a 36-month (three-year) deadline for the transition. But this proposal was not accepted by the West African mediator. The junta said it had proposed a new deadline of 24 months in a last-ditch effort to reach a realistic compromise.
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But the ECOWAS mediator did not approve the deadline, according to sources in the junta. The last proposal made by the junta to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), during the organization’s last summit on the issue in early February in Accra, was a four-year transition.
ECOWAS had proposed the organization of polls within 12 or 16 months, with the help of an Independent Electoral Management Authority (Aige). It is still not known when the next round of talks will begin. There is also international pressure on Mali to adhere to the conditions laid by ECOWAS to switch over to civilian rule.
