Shortly after his arrival Thursday in the Malian capital, the ECOWAS mediator was received in an audience at the Koulouba palace by the president of the transition, Colonel Assimi Goita.
The objective was to convince the military in power to organise elections as soon as possible.
Information relayed by several media outlets indicate that Goodluck Jonathan has come up with a document containing two plans for a way out of the crisis.
The first plan would propose a twelve-month transition while the second would suggest sixteen months.
Asked about this, the former Nigerian president acknowledged that there are “some points that are not entirely wrong.”
However, “this document is not the final version (…) of the framework developed by the technical working group,” he said.
In addition, the final document should be shared “with the Malians, which will react to it and allow the discussions to continue,” according to Jonathan.
“When this is done, we can better decide on the duration of the transition and when the elections can take place,” he added.
The former Nigerian leader hopes for a quick end to the crisis between the Malian authorities and ECOWAS, which has imposed heavy economic and political sanctions against Mali since 9 January.
His trip to Bamako is motivated by “the need to refine the discussions to see how we can move forward,” he said, noting that the exchanges should indicate the best way forward for a possible lifting of sanctions.
For his part, the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Abdoulaye Diop, welcomed the fact that their “teams were able to make a technical assessment in order to agree on the elements that are in the document. As for the rest, it is considered necessary that discussions continue in order to arrive at a consensual timetable.”
ODL/te/lb/as/APA