Mali: the head of the junta paves the way for the return of Choguel Maïga as prime minister

The head of the ruling junta in Mali has repealed the decree appointing a colonel interim prime minister, paving the way for the return of Choguel Kokalla Maïga to head the government, authorities announced on Sunday evening December 4.

Choguel Kokalla Maïga, a civilian and veteran politician appointed prime minister in June 2021, was forced to distance himself in August after suffering a stroke at the age of 64.

The number one Malian, Colonel Assimi Goïta, had appointed by decree on August 21 interim Prime Minister the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga, also government spokesman.

Colonel Goïta repealed the decree of August 21, announced on state television the secretary general of the presidency Mamadou Oulale.

Since the previous decree appointing Choguel Kokalla Maïga as head of government has not been repealed, he is supposed to automatically return to his post.

The return of Choguel Kokalla Maïga had been the subject of speculation for several days.

The calculations behind this return as well as its implications are obscure, the internal dynamics of the junta being shrouded in the greatest secrecy.

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Face of the break with France

The interim provided by Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga did not mark a significant break or change in the trajectory followed by the junta brought to power by a first coup in August 2020 and reinforced by a second in May 2021. Major decisions are said to be taken in a restricted circle dominated by the military, elsewhere than at the seat of government.

At the head of the government for three and a half months, Colonel Maïga followed in the footsteps of his namesake.

The two men are the faces of the rupture consummated after May 2021 with the former French ally and its partners, and of the military and political reorientation towards Russia.

Mali has been plagued since 2012 by the spread of jihadism and a deep multidimensional, political, economic and humanitarian crisis.

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Choguel Kokalla Maïga had been received on November 25 by Colonel Goïta and had told him that he was fit to resume his post.

This meeting had fed conjectures on the restoration of Choguel Maïga in his functions.

The decree read Sunday evening appoints Colonel Maïga Minister of State, still in charge of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, and called upon to ensure the interim of the Prime Minister in the event of absence, impediment or vacancy of the job.