Mali's neighbors gave Monday, September 7 eight days to the junta which now leads this West African country to designate those who will lead the transition promised by the military towards a return of civilians to power.
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This transitional president and this Prime Minister must be civilians, said the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meeting at the summit in Niamey.
They "
must be appointed no later than September 15, 2020
", according to the final press release read by the president of the ECOWAS Commission Jean-Claude Kassi Brou.
In the meantime, the heads of state, several of whom are physically present after months of videoconferences imposed by the Covid-19, maintain the decisions already taken since the coup d'état of August 18, starting with sanctions such as the closing of borders ECOWAS countries with Mali and the embargo on trade and financial exchanges.
The press release does not say what possible additional measure ECOWAS is considering if the new masters of Bamako do not comply with its demand by mid-September.
But this short-term ultimatum, combined with the maintenance of retaliatory measures, adds to the pressure on the colonels.
The soldiers who overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta after months of protest promised from the outset to hand over control to civilians after a transition of as yet undetermined duration.
They launched on Saturday an extended consultation with parties and civil society on this transition, which will lead it, the bodies that will be set up, its roadmap and its duration.
These consultations are to resume Thursday for three days.
Participants and the military will therefore only have a few days to agree on the names of a transitional president and prime minister, as opinions diverge on a question as essential as whether they should be civilians or military, and on other matters such as the length of the transition.
"Quick recovery"
ECOWAS reiterated that this transition should not exceed twelve months.
At the opening of the summit, the Nigerien head of state Mahamadou Issoufou, current president of the ECOWAS, insisted on a "
rapid restoration of all democratic institutions
".
Published on social networks, documents written after the first consultations and which the military must synthesize give a first glimpse of the differences of views, and of the scope and difficulty of the task.
This is further complicated by the agendas of men or organizations, and the persistence of challenges that the country must continue to face in this period of great uncertainty.
In addition to jihadist attacks and violence of all kinds, Mali is plagued by social demands, on schools for example, or damage caused by bad weather in one of the poorest countries on the planet.
Addressing other subjects, President Issoufou urged his colleagues "
to develop a new roadmap while maintaining a gradual approach for the launch of the common currency
", and underlined "
the difficulties of mobilizing funding
" to fight against the jihadism.
The launch of the single currency, the Eco, which will eventually replace the CFA franc in West Africa, was scheduled for July 2020 but criticism from Nigeria as well as the coronavirus crisis have upset a timetable considered ambitious by many observers and that was not respected.
Eight heads of state, including Senegalese Presidents Macky Sall and Ivorian Alassane Ouattara but also Bissau-Guinean Umaro Sissoco Embalo were present at the summit.
As expected, the summit appointed the Ghanaian Nana Akufo-Addo to succeed Mahamadou Issoufou as President of ECOWAS "
for a one-year term
".
