Monitoring Committee of Mali’s Transition demands release of President and Prime Minister
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Local Committee for the monitoring of the Transition in Mali "demands the immediate and unconditional release" of the President of the Transition, Bah N'Daw, and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, who were arrested on Monday by the military, shortly after the announcement of the new Malian government.
In a statement received by PANA on Tuesday, the committee warned that "the military elements who are holding them will be held personally responsible for their safety".
In the new government team, the two colonels responsible for the coup that toppled former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on 18 August were replaced in the ministries of Defence and Security by two generals, which seems to be at the root of the crisis.
Members of the local Transition Monitoring Committee reaffirmed their "firm support" for the Transition authorities and called for the Transition to resume its course and be concluded within the planned time frame, stressing that "the international community rejects in advance any act imposed by coercion, including forced resignations".
The Committee also expressed "deep concern about the situation in Mali", warning that "the ill-considered action taken on Monday carries the risk of weakening the international community's mobilisation in support of Mali".
The committee, made up of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), with members of the international community, including France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union, "strongly condemned the attempted coup de force that occurred following the publication of the new government.
Members of the local monitoring committee of the transition in Mali "welcomed the announcement of the arrival of the ECOWAS delegation in Bamako on Tuesday" and called on all the actors concerned to give "their full cooperation to the efforts deployed for the immediate resumption of the normal course of the transition".
The ECOWAS Mediator in the Malian crisis and former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, is expected in Bamako on Tuesday.
Malian soldiers, unhappy with the new government, announced on Monday by the transitional authorities, forcibly took the president and the prime minister the same day to the military camp of Kati, a garrison town about 15 km from Bamako, the Malian capital.
Shortly after the announcement of the cabinet reshuffle, armed men went to the home of Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, who was able to contact Agence France Presse (AFP) by phone and report the presence of armed men in his home "taking him to the president of the transition".
However, the city of Bamako has remained rather calm since Monday evening, PANA noted. The national television, in minimum service because of a five-day strike launched Monday by the largest trade union, the National Union of Workers of Mali (UNTM), has even rebroadcast the official communiqué announcing the list of government members.
For several days, there have been persistent rumours of discontent among some who were not sure to be part of the new government team. For the time being, no official statement has been made on these events.
-0- PANA GT/JSG/BBA/AR 25May2021
