Panafrican News Agency

Mali: President Ibrahim Boubacar Kéita announces dissolution of Constitutional Court

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Kéita announced here Saturday the dissolution of the Constitutional Court and a repeal of the decree appointing the members, an official source told PANA here Sunday.

The president, in a brief address to the nation, also invited the competent authorities to proceed with the appointment of the new constitutional judges from next week.

On Thursday evening, President Kéita had announced, in a speech, the reorganization of the court in a month's time in his intervention last Wednesday with the presidents of the ECOWAS Constitutional Courts who had arrived in Mali.

The multifaceted crisis facing Mali has been exacerbated in recent times by the contested judgments of the Constitutional Court in relation to the final results of the legislative elections (March-April 2020).

According to a segment of the political class and observers, the Constitutional Court "tampered" with these results to the benefit of the presidential party, the Rassemblement pour le Mali (RPM).

In his brief intervention on Saturday on Malian television, Ibrahim Boubacar Kéita explained that he was led to take this decision after assessing the seriousness of the situation the country was going through.

He also denounced the violence during the serious events that took place Friday in the city of Bamako, during the demonstration organized by the movement of 5 June-assembly of patriotic forces (M5-RFP), criticizing "the actions of political leaders who incited demonstrators to attack public buildings and engage in ransacking and looting".

The Malian president said the perpetrators of these "deplorable acts will be sought and brought to justice".

According to reliable sources, several M5-RFP leaders were arrested on Saturday, following the sacking and looting caused by angry demonstrators on Friday, calling for the resignation of President Kéita for "bad governance" and "poor management of the crises that Mali is currently experiencing”.

At least four people were killed in these demonstrations, and at least 40 were injured, according to a new hospital report.

 

- 0 -  PANA      GT/MTA/RA  12Jul2020