Mali national consultation agrees 18-month transition

13 Septembre 2020

Bamako, Mali, September 13 (Infosplusgabon) - The three-day national consultation on the transition in Mali ended on Saturday with the adoption of a Transition Charter and roadmap under which the West African country will have a transition government for 18 months.

The participants recommended the president of the transition government could either be a civilian or military officer.

It said the transition government would have a vice-president, a maximum of 25 ministers, a council which will be the legislative body made up of 121 members from the defence and security forces and all sectors in the country.

The consultation was initiated by the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP), which ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta on 18 August.

The ousted President who suffered a mild strike recently, has been allowed to fly to UAE for medical treatment.

The 18-month transition goes against the 12-month deadline given last Monday by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has imposed economic sanctions on the landlocked country and closed all its borders.

On the draft roadmap for the transition, the participants selected six areas: re-establishment and strengthening of defence and security throughout the country; promotion of good governance; overhaul of the education system; political and institutional reforms; the adoption of a social stability pact; and the organization of general elections.

More than 500 delegates from political parties, civil society and the military took part in the days of national consultation, the objective of which was to bring together the vital forces of the nation to agree on the practical modalities of the transition.

Participants were to agree the main points of the roadmap and a Transition Charter that defined the bodies, powers, method of appointment and the duration of the transition.

In his closing remarks, the CNSP president, Colonel Assimi Goïta, recalled that since the advent of multiparty democracy, Mali has experienced various types of difficulties hampering the functioning of the State. He said the consultations were an opportunity for the vital forces of the nation to discuss the concerns of the moment and the future.

"What awaits us now is just as difficult, that is to say, to implement the resolutions resulting from these meetings," he said, and pledged that the junta will spare no effort. in the implementation of all of the resolutions in the exclusive interest of the Malian people.

The Malian military ousted President Keïta after a series of large demonstrations led by the 5 June Movement – Rally of Patriotic Forces (M5-RFP) that denounced corruption and the government's handling of a worsening security situation, as well as alleged electoral malpractices and the lack of judicial reform.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/OGV/GABON2020

© Copyright  Infosplusgabon