M5-RFP rejects ECOWAS position demanding resignation of Malian President Keita
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Malian Movement of June 5-Rally of Patriotic Forces (M5-RFP) on Tuesday reaffirmed "its determination to lead its fight to save Mali" and underlined its demand for the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
In a statement it issued in Bamako, the opposition movement charged that the country is threatened with extinction as a state, nation, democracy, and secular republic.
It said Keita and his regime "bear full responsibility for this sinister prospect for Mali".
Reacting to conclusions of the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the Malian crisis, held on Monday by video conference, the M5-RFP expressed "astonishment" at the conclusions of the Summit.
For the M5-RFP, "the conclusions of the Summit of Heads of State do not take into account the depth and seriousness of the sociopolitical crisis which is threatening the future of Mali, do not in any way correspond to the expectations and aspirations of the Malian people and, above all, violate the laws and Constitution of Mali which the Movement respects".
As the main actor in the protest since June, against Ibrahim Boubcara Kéita and his regime, the M5-RFP reiterated its "demand for legal action, including before the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the perpetrators, sponsors, and accomplices in the killings and abuses committed against demonstrators with bare hands by the Special Anti-Terrorist Forces (FORSAT), both in Sikasso and Bamako, in the streets, homes, and places of worship, and its demand for the release of opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé".
"The Malian people will remain mobilised and determined to implement their constitutional right to civil disobedience throughout the country and in the Diaspora, until the completion of their patriotic struggle for the restoration of a democratic, republican and secular Mali, with responsible and virtuous governance," said the M5-RFP in its statement.
-0- PANA GT/JSG/MTA/AR 28July2020
