West Africa Bloc Urges Mali to Solve Political Standoff
West Africa Bloc Urges Mali to Solve Political Standoff
The West African regional bloc urged Mali to form a unity government and revise the results of parliamentary elections to end the standoff between the president and opposition parties.
The ECOWAS delegation led by Niger’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Kalla Ankourao arrived in the Malian capital Bamako a day before demonstrations that saw thousands of protesters rally in major cities. They called for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to step down.
Mali should “avoid violence as a means to solve the crisis” and “restore confidence between the parties,” the bloc said in a statement Saturday. It urged authorities to review the outcome of recent parliamentary elections and hold another vote in districts where necessary.
Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, called on “political leaders to send clear messages to their supporters to exercise utmost restraint and to refrain from any action likely to fuel tensions.”
Keita, 75, is struggling with a security crisis, a Covid-19 outbreak and political tension.
The March 29 elections sparked protests last month as some seats were seen to have been handed to ruling party candidates. The poll, postponed several times over security concerns, went ahead despite the Covid-19 outbreak. Keita’s main opponent in the 2018 election, opposition leader Soumaila Cisse, was abducted by suspected Islamist militants on the eve of the vote.
Mali, a gold and cotton producer, has struggled to restore stability in its northern and central regions since Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda took control in early 2012. Large swaths of the country remain out of government control despite a 2015 peace agreement with some armed groups.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.