The soldiers, authors of two coups d’état in 2020 and 2021, say they cannot organize the election scheduled for February, which is supposed to return power to civilians.
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Pressure is mounting on the military junta which rules Mali. The heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), several of which are neighbors of the country, have announced the closure of their borders with Mali, with the exception of basic necessities. . They sanction the refusal of the Malian soldiers to organize elections to hand over power to civilians in February.
According to the press release read at the end of this closed-door summit in Accra (Ghana), ECOWAS members also decided to cut financial aid and freeze Mali’s assets at the Central Bank of the States of ‘West Africa. They will recall their ambassadors in Mali.
Soldiers took power in Mali by a first putsch in August 2020. After the first sanctions from the ECOWAS, they had undertaken to organize elections and a transfer of power to civilians 18 months later, in February 2022. Since then , a second putsch, in May 2021, consolidated their power, and Colonel Assimi Goïta was inducted as president of the “transition”.
The junta says today that it is not able to organize presidential and legislative elections on the scheduled date, because of insecurity and the need for reforms supposed to avoid contesting the results. It requires up to five years of transition.