Uncertainty in Mali over new coup

Assimi Goita, Mali’s vice-president of the transition and junta leader, has taken charge of the transition since he released Bah N’Daw, the president of the transition, and Moctar Ouane, the prime minister, after three days of detention and their resignation.

Unhappy with the appointment of a new transitional government without his consultation and accusing “sabotage” of the transition Goita, who initiated the 2020 coup, forcibly transported the transition leaders to the Kati military base on Monday.

Ouane and N’Daw resigned Wednesday hours after the vice president announced he had put them “out of their prerogatives.”

“Following a crisis of several months at the national level, including strikes and various demonstrations by social and political actors, the government led by Mr. Moctar Ouane has shown itself incapable of constituting a reliable interlocutor, likely to mobilize the confidence of social partners,” he said in a statement read on national television by Baba Cissé, his adviser.

But with a power grab in a country in transition since a previous coup, the situation is “very complicated” and “unstable” for a country that should be at the forefront of securing the Sahel region against terrorism, Régis Hounkpe, a pan-African geopolitologist, told Anadolu Agency.

Domestically, Malians are divided over the circumstances. Some criticize the actions of the military and think they should be on the front lines against terrorism instead of discussing ministerial posts, while others are convinced that Goita’s action is “to help the country regain its dignity.”

“Malians don’t need a coup” or “more crises,” according to Malian political actor Brehima Diakite.

“It’s just a matter of redressing the situation and moving the transition forward,” according to Issa Kaou Djim, a member of the National Transitional Council who spoke to Anadolu Agency.

Suspensions and targeted sanctions

The detention of the transitional authorities before their release followed a wave of condemnations and threats of sanctions against not only the junta but the entire country from the African and international community.

In a statement following its Peace and Security Council on Thursday, the African Union (AU) called on “the elements of the army that committed this illegal act to return unconditionally to their barracks and to refrain from interfering in the political process in Mali.”

AU is also considering sanctions against its West African member and “the suspension of Mali’s participation in all AU activities until the return to the agreed Charter and transition roadmap.”

After an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday evening, the UN Security Council condemned the arrests and demanded that the initial timetable for the transition with “civilian authorities” be respected.

According to the UN, “the reckless action taken” by the junta risks weakening the mobilization of the international community in favor of Mali.

On this occasion, the United States, which since the overthrow of former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita had limited its annual budgetary aid to the Malian government, decided to suspend its security assistance to the Malian army.

The country is also considering “targeted measures against political and military leaders who impede Mali’s transition to civilian-led democratic governance,” said a statement from the US Embassy in Mali.

However, these measures are “double-edged” as they “also hit the Malian population” and risk “internal tensions and even feed a feeling of rejection from Mali’s partners,” said Jean Herve Jezekel, an expert from the International Crisis Group (ICG) in a recent interview published by the conflict management group.

In Mali, “the transition is taking its normal course,” Assimi Goita recently assured.

Local media report that he considers himself the new president of the republic, citing diplomatic sources. On Thursday, he met with the secretaries-general of ministerial departments. The objective was “to ensure the continuity of the state and the management of current affairs,” said Malijet, a local online media.

The transitional leader recalled the sense of duty and asked for continuity of public action, according to Dr. Yaya Gologo, secretary-general of the Ministry of Labor and Civil Service, quoted by the same source.

He added that this type of meeting is not unprecedented because after the coup of 2020, “the secretaries-general had been received by the same Colonel Assimi Goita, who had given them his guidance in relation to the conduct of this transition period.”

Meanwhile, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has announced an extraordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government this Sunday, May 30, 2021, in Accra (Ghana). It will be “exclusively devoted to the ongoing political situation in Mali.”

For the ICG, “international actors should continue to reject the confiscation of power by the military” and “put pressure on the country to return to civilian rule that is not hostage to it.”

The organization also believes that “repeated crises are undermining the credibility of the Malian state,” “giving space to jihadists and other armed groups,” but also undermining confidence in the Algiers Agreement. (Courtesy Anadolu Agency, excluding headline)