After the second coup in a year, what’s next for Mali? | Mali News

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In less than a year, the Malian army regained power for the second time.

Nine months after the overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita after large-scale anti-government protests, the military announced on Monday that it would exclude two major military leaders’ new cabinet hours after Detained President Barendau and Prime Minister Mokta Vane.

Colonel Assimi Goita, who led the August 2020 coup and was a deputy in the transitional government established by Ndaw in late September, said that the reorganization announced amid rising social tensions did not seek his opinion including the main unions in Mali Call for a general strike.

On Wednesday, retired officers Endow and Varn were taken to a military base. Later in the day, the UN Security Council condemned the “use of force to change the transitional leadership, including through forced resignation” as “unacceptable.”

But by Friday, Goita had Appointment of interim president Trial by the Constitutional Court of Mali.

According to Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Jeffrey Onyeama, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) invited military leaders to talk with the current chairman of the regional group, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana. The talks are scheduled to be held on Sunday.

France, which has thousands of soldiers fighting against armed groups in Mali, also criticized the military takeover as “unacceptable.” President Emmanuel Macron warned that it would target the people behind what he called “a coup in a coup”. Targeted sanctions”.

After last year’s coup, ECOWAS suspended Mali’s institutional qualifications and announced a series of sanctions, including closing borders and halting capital flows.

But some analysts question the effectiveness of such measures and whether they are the best way to restore civil rule.

“The sanctions regime has not been very successful,” Emmanuel Quesi Anning, research director of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center, told Al Jazeera.

“People can trade; the borders are porous. But the fact that ECOWAS is trying to impose sanctions without considering Mali’s political, economic, and social realities means that the sanctions regime itself becomes a curse and allows people to The community is critical,” he said.

“Now, I think any claims or decisions to re-impose these sanctions will be counterproductive. We need to have a more nuanced dialogue about what the people of Mali are really looking for,” An Ning added.

On Wednesday, Washington said it would “suspend security assistance to Mali’s security and defense forces,” which are working to contain armed groups in the northern and central regions of the country.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement: “The United States will also consider taking targeted measures against political and military leaders that hinder the transition to civilian-led democratic governance in Mali.”

Since the 2012 uprising prompted rebel soldiers to overthrow the president, Mali has been in turmoil.

The power vacuum helped the Tuareg separatists ally with the fighters of the al-Qaeda branch, launched a rebellion, and took control of northern Mali. The fighters of the armed group quickly overthrew the Tuareg rebels and occupied the main northern cities until they were expelled by a French-led counterattack in early 2013.

But the combatants are still active. Since 2015, groups associated with Al-Qaida and ISIL have moved from the arid north to the more populous central Mali, attacking targets and inciting hatred and violence among the ethnic groups in the area .

People worry that the latest developments in Bamako may make the fragile security situation more unstable.

“it [the coup] Not only will it lead to re-emergence of violence and more armed groups in Mali, but it is also a symbol of the military’s ability to come back and take power,” Anning said.

Prior to the latest coup, Mali was scheduled to hold presidential and legislative elections in February next year. On Friday, Goita promised that the vote will proceed as planned.

He also stated that he will elect a prime minister within a few days, and this number will come from the opposition’s June 5th Movement-Patriotic Forces Rally (M5-RFP)-behind the scenes of last year’s street demonstrations against Keita Push hands.

The M5-RFP movement was put on hold by the coup d’étatists when the transitional institution was established last year.

Jean-Herve Jezequel of Crisis Group said in a statement Publication The next few days this week will be “decisive” and there may also be a political deadlock.

“But whatever the outcome, the new crisis highlights the lack of a strong coalition supporting the transition, especially its announced ambitions to reform Mali’s political system,” he added. “This aspect is perhaps the most worrying: after all these crises, Mali still does not know which political forces can bring about the changes the country needs.”

For Moussa Kondo, a civil society activist and director of the Mali Accountability Laboratory, elections are “the factor that brings Mali out of this cycle.”

“We Malians have been living in a challenging situation between the president and the military government,” he told Al Jazeera. “We need to find a peaceful and transparent solution acceptable to all Malians.”



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