Mali’s interim Vice President Colonel Assimi Goita on Tuesday said that he regained control of the West African country after the transitional president and prime minister failed to consult him about the formation of a new government, reported Aljazeera.
“This kind of step testifies to the clear desire of the transitional president and prime minister to seek to breach the transitional charter,” Col. Goita said on Tuesday.
He described the pair’s actions as a “demonstrable intent to sabotage the transition”. He also vowed to go ahead with holding new elections in 2022 to restore an elected government.
Col. Goita’s statement came a day after President Bah N’Daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane were detained by Malian soldiers and brought to the military headquarters in Kati, outside the capital Bamako. Both remained in detention on Tuesday and there was no immediate detail about their whereabouts. The arrest prompted swift condemnation from international powers, some of which called it an “attempted coup.”
The two men were in charge of a transitional government created after a military coup in August that ousted Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. They were tasked with overseeing a return to democratic elections next year.
The United Nations and African Union condemned the coup and called for the immediate and unconditional release of Mali’s civilian leadership in a joint statement. The statement said that the international community rejects in advance any act of coercion, including forced resignations.
The United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS also signed the statement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for calm in a tweet, and urged the leaders’ “unconditional release”.
Polit6icla experts feat that Mali’s current situation could exacerbate instability in the country, where Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State control large areas of the north and center and stage frequent attacks on the army and civilians.
