Military Junta
Mali: Military opens talks on transition to civilian rule
Mali’s military junta will hold meetings on Saturday to discuss its promised transition to civilian rule after mounting pressure from neighbours to yield power in the weeks since it overthrew the nation’s leader. The West African country has long been plagued by chronic instability, a simmering jihadist revolt, ethnic violence and endemic corruption, prompting a clique of rebel colonels to detain elderly President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last month. They pledged to step down after an undefined transition period, but the putsch has prompted Mali’s neighbours and former colonial ruler France to demand a swift transfer of power, with fears the crisis could impact neighbouring states. The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc has imposed sanctions and closed...
Mali protest movement proposes two-year transition to civilian rule
The protest coalition that campaigned against former Mali president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has proposed that the military junta that ousted him organise a transition to civilian rule within 24 months, one of its leaders said Sunday. Military rulers received representatives of the June 5 Movement at the Kati barracks near Bamako late Saturday, after announcing they would postpone a meeting with civic groups, political organisations and former rebels on the transfer of power due to “organisational reasons”. The protest movement has demanded that the military junta give it a role in the transition, in keeping with its role in spearheading Keita’s ouster. It has proposed “a transition of 18 to 24 months” with civilians heading a transitional presidency, government and assembly, one of the move...
Mali junta postpones transfer of powers meeting as cracks emerge
Mali’s military junta on Saturday postponed the first meeting on the transfer of power after rising tensions with the group that sparked the August 18 coup. The junta had invited civic groups, political organisations and former rebels to consultations on Saturday, but said in a statement that the meeting was postponed at the last minute to a later date due to “organisational reasons”. A protest coalition that had campaigned against former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the June 5 Movement, was not invited to the meeting and accused the new military rulers of trying to hijack the coup. The group has demanded that the military junta give it a role in the transition to civilian rule, in keeping with its role in spearheading Keita’s ouster. The military has promised to do so, though without...
West African delegation ‘very hopeful’ after meeting Mali junta
A West African delegation visiting Mali to push for a speedy return to civilian rule following a coup said it was “very hopeful” on Saturday after meeting with the country’s military junta and the president it ousted. The head of the delegation from the regional Ecowas bloc, former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, said that detained Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was doing relatively well. “We saw him, he’s very fine,” said Jonathan, who had earlier met for half an hour with the soldiers who seized power on Tuesday, including new strongman Colonel Assimi Goita. Jonathan told AFP that negotiations were going well and he was “very hopeful”. Rebel soldiers seized Keita and other leaders after a mutiny on Tuesday, dealing another deep blow to a country already struggling with a b...
Mali junta open talks with opposition leaders after coup
Mali’s junta headed by Army colonel Assimi Goita which seized power in a coup on Tuesday has begun to meet with senior opposition politicians in the country. This comes amid global condemnation of the coup and mounting calls for the release of President Ibrahim Booubakar Keita and his prime minister Boubou Cisse. There were few signs that political opposition leaders were aware of the coup plot in advance but now they stand to benefit from a transitional government promised to be put in place by the military junta “I think the hardest part starts now. It’s a question of bringing everyone together, as I’ve always said, there are no winners and losers, we’re all Malians, so for us, even those who were with IBK (ed: Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta), if they don’t have blood on their hands, if they’re ...
