By akademiotoelektronik, 19/09/2022

LeFaso.net Mali Newsletter: "We made the choice to be sincere in order to take our destiny into our own hands", says Assimi Goïta

The day after the decision of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the head of the Malian transition, Colonel Assimi Goïta, made a statement on national television ORTM, at the end of of an extraordinary council of ministers. The strongman of Mali called on his peers to make an in-depth analysis of the situation in his country. “The complexity of the situation in Mali has not been taken into account,” he regretted.

While saying he is “open to dialogue” with this sub-regional institution, Colonel Assismi Goïta invites his compatriots to mobilize. "I ask you to remain calm and serene, because we have made the choice to be sincere in order to take our destiny in hand by forging our own path (...) ECOWAS and UEMOA have assumed each other, we will as much (...)”, he declared.

For the transitional government, the sanctions are "illegal" and "inhuman". At the end of the extraordinary council of ministers, he calls "the entire population and the diaspora to a general mobilization throughout the national territory, on Friday January 14, 2022" and asks "the religious and customary authorities to organize prayer sessions in all places of worship”.

The transition announced the development of a response plan to safeguard sovereignty and preserve the integrity of the national territory. In this dynamic, the government “invites all the social partners to a truce in order to face the challenges of the hour”.

"Mali cannot live in autarky"

According to our colleagues at RFI, ECOWAS provides for a "gradual lifting" of sanctions as soon as Bamako presents a schedule deemed "acceptable" and "satisfactory progress" has been recorded in its implementation. the Malian opposition parties met on Monday January 10 to analyze the situation with regard to the national context, reports the French media. For Ismaël Sacko, president of the African Social Democratic Party, and one of the spokespersons of the Framework of Political Parties for a Successful Transition, it is urgent that a new date be set quickly for the elections.

“Inclusiveness and neutrality failed the transitional authorities, which led us through their stubbornness to heavy sanctions. Therefore, the Executive holds responsible the authorities of the transition who did not wish to hear and examine the proposals that the Executive had made to avoid these sanctions.

The Executive also considered that it is very important to quickly draw up a fairly precise, very short timetable for the elections, which will make it possible to resume dialogue with the Heads of State of ECOWAS because "Mali cannot live in self-sufficiency”. Ismaël Sacko continues: “From February 27, 2022, the transition charter being obsolete, we need a civil transition which will take over to move towards elections in a very short time and in a very consensual way”.

It should be noted that the National Rally Committee for Development (CNRD) has reaffirmed that "the air, land and sea borders of the Republic of Guinea always remain open to all brotherly countries, in accordance with its pan-Africanist vision". The Guinean transition says it was not associated with the decision of the fourth extraordinary summit of ECOWAS heads of state.

Cryspin LaoundikiLefaso.net