This is a quartet of heads of State in west africa that is preparing to tread Thursday, July 23, the soil of mali. Objective : to try to find a solution to the socio-political crisis that crosses the country of Mali, after several weeks of dispute of the power of the president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. The information has been given earlier on Monday by the magazine Jeune Afrique, before being confirmed by an official of the presidency, which is entrusted to the Agence France-Presse under the guise of anonymity. Among the presidents who should make the move include Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’ivoire, Macky Sall of Senegal and Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana. Remains an unknown : the duration of the mission has not been specified.
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A reprieve for the Tabaski
What has happened since this weekend and the end of the mission of the Community of States of West African (Ecowas) ? Monday, so a few barricades erected in the suburbs of Bamako by opponents of president Keita, aka ” IBK “, has been quickly dismantled by the security forces, the diplomatic talks have continued behind the scenes.
The imam Mahmoud Dicko, religious authority, transformed into a guarantor of political and spiritual dissent, has received at the end of the afternoon the ambassadors to Mali from France, the United States and the european Union, informs AFP by diplomatic sources. 66-year-old, this former ally of the head of State said to the diplomats that the doors to dialogue were not closed, but that the governance in Mali was to radically change, according to participants in the meeting interviewed by the French news Agency.
But, less than two weeks to the feast of Tabaski, which is now in the minds of all, and awaiting the arrival of the african heads of State, the opponents want to make a gesture and show that they care about the problems of the populations. The strategic committee of the movement of June 5, has ” decided to observe a truce on the subject of civil disobedience. This is to enable Malians to prepare well and celebrate the Tabaski “, the name given in West Africa to the feast of the Sacrifice, which will be observed at the end of the month of July, said to AFP Nouhoun Sarr, one of the leaders of the protest movement. “During this period, there will be more events. And, as you also know, we are preparing to receive the heads of State “, he added.
Issa Kaou Djim, the coordinator of the platform (CMAS) to support the imam Mahmoud Dicko, has “congratulated” with the AFP, the announcement of the truce, calling it ” a decision that is very responsible and wise “. This sign of abating, however, will not mean a softening of the movement’s claims of 5 June. In a statement signed on Monday night by Choguel Maïga, one of its main leaders, the M5-RFP reiterates its main requirement : the “resignation” of president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and his regime.
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Restart the dialogue
it came to Bamako at the end of the week of the four heads of State marks the rise in power of the mediation carried out for weeks by Ecowas, whose rotating presidency is currently held by the president of niger Mahamadou Issoufou.
so far, the diplomatic efforts of the organization of west africa have not helped ease a situation that is of concern to the partners of Mali, in the face for years of abuse varied, including jihadist community and, despite the presence of French forces, the african and the UN.
The talks from Wednesday to Sunday to Bamako by a delegation of diplomats and experts, led by the ex-nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, did not lead to a consensus solution.
The mission recommended the establishment “of any” emergency government of national unity, as already suggested by the president Keïta, and the appointment of a new constitutional Court would be established to examine the priority dispute electoral outcome of the general elections of march-April, considered to be the trigger for the current crisis.
But those recommendations are met, even before their official publication, the refusal of the leaders of the M5-RFP, an alliance of religious leaders and personalities of the political world and the civil society to the origin of the demonstrations against the regime, which claims priority to the departure of the president Keïta.
however, the sent of the Ecowas, if they advocate for a sharing of governmental responsibilities between the presidential majority, the opposition and civil society, have stressed in their press release that ” no form of change non-constitutional accession to power will not be accepted by Ecowas “.
The mediation has produced ” important resolutions “, was estimated Sunday, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, president of the Ecowas commission. “Unfortunately, our brothers in the (…) M5 have not accepted the plan, but the dialog is not broken. We will continue to work, ” he confided to AFP.
In power since 2013, president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta is heavily contested in the streets since June. The climate of exasperation nourished for years by the instability will be safe in the centre and the north of the country, the economic crisis, the precarious conditions of the people or corruption, considered endemic are added to the health crisis of sars coronavirus and its effects on the poorest and the invalidation by the constitutional Court of some thirty of legislative results. On July 10, the third major demonstration against the government to the appeal of the M5-RFP was escalated in three days of unrest murderers in Bamako, the worst in the capital since 2012, which left at least 11 dead.
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