Mali’s interim president Bah Ndaw’s office on Thursday said that West African leaders may soon lift economic sanctions imposed against the country after a military coup in August, reported CGTN Africa.
According to the interim presidency’s Twitter account, Ndaw met Hamidou Boly, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) envoy, in the capital Bamako on Thursday.
Boly “suggested that the sanctions could soon be lifted,” the tweet said.
The West African bloc had imposed sanctions on Mali and shut borders to pressurize the military junta to name interim civilian leaders after former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was toppled on August 18. The restrictions include a ban on commercial trade and financial flows, but not basic necessities, drugs, equipment to fight coronavirus, fuel or electricity.
Under international pressure, the junta-appointed retired colonel, Bah Ndaw, as interim president. He will govern for a maximum of 18 months before staging elections. The military junta head Colonel Assimi Goita has been appointed vice president of the interim government.
Last week, Ndaw named former foreign minister Moctar Ouane as his prime minister as part of the bid to meet the conditions set by the 15-nation ECOWAS bloc.
However, the West African bloc previously expressed other reservations about Mali’s post-coup government. Among them are the continuation of the junta as an entity and the detention of political leaders arrested during the coup.
ECOWAS had also urged Mali to publish the roadmap or ‘transition charter’ that sets out the interim government’s powers.
On Thursday, a final version of the roadmap was published in Mali’s official journal, with no mention of the interim vice president replacing the president.
“The vice president is in charge of defence and security,” the document said.
ECOWAS is also not happy with junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita serving as the country’s interim vice president, whose role in government remains unclear as long as the roadmap remains unpublished.
