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News > Mali

Mali: Opposition Parties Sidles up to Military Junta

  • The Junta spokersman Colonel-Major Ismael Wague (C) in a press conference, Kati, Mali, August 19, 2020.

    The Junta spokersman Colonel-Major Ismael Wague (C) in a press conference, Kati, Mali, August 19, 2020. | Photo: EFE

Published 20 August 2020
Opinion

The population is now concerned about the embargo implemented by African institutions and countries.

Mali’s opposition offered its initial backing to the military factions ruling the country following the coup d'état, which ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on August 18.

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Mali: Military Forces Arrest President and Top Officials

The united opposition group M5-RFP, one of the main backers of the months-long protests against Keita following contested elections, called for a transition roadmap in a statement released late Wednesday. 

The announcement came after the party’s top brass met with the junta, the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (NCSP), which is led by colonel Assimi Goita. 

On Thursday, a sense of normality returned to Bamako city with public transport up and running, banks and shops open for business, and people milling around the markets. There was no notable military presence on the streets.  

It was this sense of normality that the NCSP wanted to prioritize following what was a bloodless coup and the junta’s spokesman Ismael Wague called on people to return to work. 

The arrest of Mali's President and Prime Minister by soldiers on Tuesday.

Nevertheless, there is a growing sense of unease in the population in light of a potential embargo implemented by African regional institutions and other countries.  

The African Union suspended Mali’s membership “until the restoration of constitutional order” and demanded the release of Keita and his government members, all of whom resigned under pressure from the coup-plotters.  

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), from which Mali has also been suspended, is due to meet to discuss a possible trade embargo on the country. Ivory Coast also announced it would cease economic relations with Mali.

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