He is the new strongman of Mali: a Malian officer declared on Wednesday to be the head of the junta which overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta the day before.
"Let me introduce myself: I am Colonel Assimi Goita, the president of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People," he told the press, surrounded by armed soldiers, after meeting senior officials at the headquarters of the ministry of defense.
“Mali is in a situation of socio-political and security crisis,” he continued. We no longer have the right to make mistakes. We, by making this intervention yesterday, we put the country above (everything), Mali first ”.
"It was my duty to meet the various secretaries general so that we could assure them of our support with regard to the continuity of State services", he explained.
"Following yesterday's event (Ed. Tuesday) which led to the change of power, it was our duty to give our position to these general secretaries so that they can work," he continued.
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Colonel Goita appeared on television on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday when a group of soldiers announced the creation of this committee which prompted President Keïta to resign, but he did not speak .
The soldiers who overthrew Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta on Tuesday promised a political transition and general elections within a "reasonable time".
The putschists announced the closure of borders and the establishment of a curfew. They called on the Malians to "go about their business freely" and to "resume their activities in a healthy way".
In a televised statement during the night, President Keïta announced his resignation, the dissolution of the government and that of the National Assembly.
UN pressure. The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday called on the mutinous soldiers in Mali to "return without delay to their barracks" and to release "immediately" all the arrested leaders.
During an emergency closed-door meeting, member countries also “underlined the pressing need to restore the rule of law and move towards a return to constitutional order”.
Macron and "the rule of law". Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that "the fight against terrorist groups and the defense of democracy and the rule of law are inseparable". “To get out of it is to cause instability and weaken our fight. This is not acceptable ”, writes the French president on Twitter, calling for power to be“ returned to civilians ”, that“ milestones (be) laid for the return to constitutional order ”and that the Malian president and its Prime Minister be released.