The National Council for the Transition to a Civil Regime, a legislative body, met in an inaugural session on Saturday in Bamako.
It must elect its president, who will be chosen from among candidates sponsored by at least 40 members, a provision also favorable to the military who had arrogated in advance 22 seats out of 121.
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Young Mali army officers overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta on August 18 after weeks of anti-government protests.
Under threat of international sanctions, officers handed over power between September and October to an interim government, which is supposed to rule the country for 18 months before elections are held.
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The Malian authorities dominated by the military communicated Thursday the composition of this future legislative body of the transition supposed to bring civilians back to power, putting an end with difficulty to an expectation which added to a growing impatience against the new regime.
After the designation of a president, a prime minister and a transitional government between the end of September and the beginning of October, it remained for the authorities put in place after the putsch of August 18 to create the third body, legislative, of this supposedly transitional period.
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The conditions of appointment of the members of this body, which gave pride of place to the military, then the time taken to choose them fueled an increasingly manifest discontent against the authorities, gradually dispelling the a priori initially favorable to the putschists.
The composition of this body and the refusal of certain forces to participate in it seem to have considerably complicated the task of the authorities.
