MALI: Coup leaders, ECOWAS envoy fail to reach agreement on transitional govt

Talks between a delegation of West African envoys and the military officers who overthrew Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita aimed at resolving the political situation in the aftermath of last week’s coup have ended without agreement.

The West African leaders who demanded that deposed President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, be reinstated failed to convince Mali’s military leaders that this was the way forward.

The ECOWAS delegation met the 75-year-old former president, who was being held at the military barracks in Kati, near the capital, Bamako.

READ ALSO: ECOWAS delegation meets ousted Mali president, coup plotters in Bamako

“President Keita told us that he has resigned, that he was not forced to do so and that he does not want to return,” former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who led the delegation, said on Monday. “He says he wants a quick transition to allow the country [to] return as soon as possible to a civilian regime.”

However, Colonel Ismael Wague, the spokesman for the coup leaders said on Monday that the final decision on the makeup of an interim transitional administration would be decided “by Malians”.

He added that no timeline had been established for elections to return the country to civilian rule. The coup leaders previously said they would stage elections “within a reasonable time”.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now