Talks between West African nations and Mali’s new junta ended yesterday without a deal on how the country should return to civilian rule following last week’s coup, the two sides said.
Separately, they also said that ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita – whose return to office had been initially demanded by the regional bloc ECOWAS – no longer wished to resume duties.
The August 18 coup triggered shockwaves among Mali’s neighbours, fearing that one of the region’s most volatile countries would spiral into chaos.
ECOWAS – the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States – sent a high-level delegation to Bamako on Saturday, led by former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, to press its demands for the “immediate return to constitutional order.”
The talks have focused on the transition to civilian rule.
“There were discussions on both sides, given that at this stage nothing has been set down, nothing has been decided, and that as far as we are concerned, the final architecture of the transition will be discussed and defined by us,” said the junta’s spokesman, Colonel Ismael Wague.
Jonathan said: “We have agreed on a number of issues, but there are some issues that we have not agreed. So on those issues we told the military officers the thinking of ECOWAS and we asked them to go and review.”
A source in the visiting delegation on Sunday said the junta “has affirmed that it wants a three-year transition to review the foundations of the Malian state. This transition will be directed by a body led by a soldier, who will also be head of state.
“The government will also be predominantly composed of soldiers” under the proposal, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Additionally, a junta official confirmed that “the three-year transition would have a military president and a government mostly composed of soldiers.”
This timeframe contrasts with the junta’s vow, within hours of taking over on August 18, that elections would be held within a “reasonable” timeframe.
Many Malians took to social media yesterday to attack the transition scheme.
It also compares starkly with demands by the 15-nation ECOWAS for the “immediate return of constitutional order.”
The bloc’s leaders are to confer in a virtual summit tomorrow as to how to proceed, mindful of Mali’s last coup in 2012, which led to a regional revolt that metastasised into an insurgency.
They have already decided to close Mali’s borders and issued threats to impose sanctions against the coup leaders.
The bloc has already intervened in several crises in West Africa, including Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
from Gulf Times https://ift.tt/32sw4D8
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