ECOWAS wants sanctions against 18 August coup makers in Mali
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Thursday decided, in addition to the economic sanctions issued against Mali, to apply measures against the authors of Tuesday’s putsch in Bamako, as well as their partners and collaborators.
In an extraordinary summit, through videoconferencing, the heads of state and government of the sub-regional organisation on the Malian crisis, the Nigerien president, also current ECOWAS chairman, Issoufou Mahamadou, said the summit was held in all emergency on Mali which had just gone through a new development with the power taking on Tuesday by the military junta.
"This situation comes in a difficult economic context for the region, and especially despite the intense diplomatic efforts made by ECOWAS to overcome the political crisis shaking Mali presently," said the Nigerien president in his speech at the opening of the conference.
He reiterated that the different mediation missions in the Malian crisis were conducted by former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. Just like the extraordinary summit of 27 July at the end of which the presidents adopted measures to get Mali out of crisis.
These were the reorganisation of the Constitutional Court, the resignation of 31 controversial members of parliament, the partial resumption of parliamentary elections and the formation of a Government of National Accord.
President Issoufou said the overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta by the soldiers was not without consequences for the sub-region.
In that respect, he reiterated that the coup d’état of 2012 against President Amadou Toumani Touré had enabled the terrorists and criminal organisations to occupy for several weeks two thirds of the Malian territory.
The Nigerien president said that ECOWAS strongly condemned the overthrow by military putsch makers of President Keïta and demanded his immediate release and that of all arrested officials.
The summit engaged the ECOWAS Commission to ‘’immediately implement a series of sanctions against the putsch makers and their partners and collaborators.
In another development, President Issoufou Mahamadou announced that a high level delegation would be deployed in Mali to guarantee the immediate return of constitutional order.
Senegalese President Macky Sall, quoted through the official Facebook page of the Senegalese government, condemned the coup d’etat in Mali, but called ECOWAS "to appreciate the sanctions announced to consider the humanitarian imperatives".
In this perspective, basic foodstuffs, oil products and pharmaceutical products should not be covered by the embargo, according to the same sources.
This amendment was accepted to be integrated in the final declaration.
The extraordinary summit examined these different measures in the perspective of a quick return to constitutional order, in accordance with the additional protocol on good governance and democracy within the ECOWAS space.
- 0- PANA GT/BEH/MSA/RA 20Aug2020
