The mediator of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) in the Malian crisis, Goodluck Jonathan, believes that Mali must quickly return to a democratic regime.
Goodluck Jonathan, who is due on Thursday in Bamako, has already set the tone. The West African mediator for Mali has called on the Malian authorities to make a democratic transition “as soon as possible.”
“I cannot speak with authority because I am not the president. But because I am the mediator, we believe that five years is too long for a transitional government,” said Goodluck Jonathan, who chaired a meeting of the “Council of Elders” on Tuesday. This council works on “preventive diplomacy” and “conflict prevention” in Lagos, the former capital of Nigeria. “I think Ecowas might not accept it. We will continue to negotiate with them (the military junta) and make sure that they reduce that time,” he added.
Furthermore, the Ecowas mediator reacted to the vote of Mali’s National Transitional Council, the legislative body controlled by the military since the August 2020 coup, which endorsed a transition period in Mali of up to five years. “The Malian parliament is a portion of the Malian government that is itself an aberration, its members are not elected,” Goodluck Jonathan said, adding “we must put an end to it as soon as possible.
This clarification may well offend the junta in Bamako that he is expected to meet today, to deliver the message of the heads of state of Ecowas.
CD/fss/abj/APA