The possibility for Colonel Assimi Goita, the head of Mali’s ruling junta to run for the next presidential election has been ruled out by the draft revision of the Transition Charter.
The National Transitional Council (CNT), the legislative body of the Transition in Mali, is busy working out this draft charter. It has just proposed a draft revision to amend certain provisions of the Transitional Charter. The date of the plenary session has not yet been set, but the new provisions take into account the recommendations of the ‘Assises Nationales de la Refondation’ (National Conference on reforms, ANR), held from 15 to 21 November 2021.
Thus, the revised draft charter expressly prohibits the president of the transition from running in the next elections. As President since May 2021, Colonel Assimi Goita is not expected to seek his own succession in a presidential election, the date of which has not yet been agreed upon.
As president of the transition, the text also provides for his replacement, “in the event of a vacancy,” by the president of the National Council of Transition, in this case Colonel Malick Diaw, one of the officers with whom he led the August 18, 2020 putsch.
Other changes include the elimination of the post of vice president and the number of members of the government, which is limited to 25, the increase in the number of members of the CNT, and the adjustment of the duration of the transition, in line with the recommendations of the national conference on reforms (ANR).
The latter must also define “the duration of the transition,” which should normally expire in a few days, considering the date of the overthrow of the democratically elected president, the late Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. While the international community, particularly the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is calling on the military authorities to organize elections quickly, part of the Malian opposition has declared that it would no longer recognize them as of March 25.
Extending the transition?
But in light of Article 2 of the draft charter, among the new provisions, this deadline may seem short for the military authorities of the transition to be able to hand on the baton. In the said article, the charter charges the transition with several missions that will necessarily take time to accomplish.
These include the restoration and strengthening of security throughout the country, the recovery of the state and the creation of the basic conditions for its rebuilding, the promotion of good governance, the overhaul of the education system, the adoption of a social stability pact, and political, institutional, electoral and administrative reforms, institutional, electoral and administrative reforms, the organization of general elections, the wise implementation of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, resulting from the Algiers process, and the shrewd and efficient implementation of the Recommendations of the National Conferences on Reforms.
The National Conference had also recommended extending the transition period from six months to five years, while the presidential election was scheduled for February 27, 2022. This announcement particularly irritated Ecowas, which imposed several sanctions on Mali.
Diplomatic relations with all the countries of the sub-region, except Guinea, were severed, not to mention the closure of common borders and the suspension of economic transactions between the countries of the West African bloc and Mali.
These heavy sanctions have put many West Africans in disarray, especially those living near the borders. “Even to say hello to each other, we go to each side of the border. It’s pitiful,” lamented a resident of Kidira, a Senegalese town on the border with Mali.
ODL/cgd/fss/abj/APA