Mali’s coup leader Colonel Assimi Goita was sworn in as the country’s new transitional president on Monday, following his second coup in less than a year, reported Africa News. The swearing-in ceremony was held in Bamako.
After swearing-in as the interim president, Col. Goita vowed to honor his country’s commitments and reaffirmed the goal of conducting elections by next February as pressure mounts from international powers. The vote is slated for February 2022.
“I would like to reassure, in your name, the sub-regional and regional organizations and the international community in general that Mali will honor all its commitments for and in the best interests of the nation,” vowed Mali’s new president.
Goita served as Mali’s vice president under the transitional government, formed in September last year after the ousting of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Late last month, he stripped the transitional civilian president Bah Ndaw and prime minister Moctar Ouane of power after accusing them of failing to consult him about a cabinet reshuffle. The action caused a lot of national and international uproar.
The African Union as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suspended Mali’s membership in wake of the coup. Former colonial power France also suspended its cooperation with the Malian military.
Later on Monday, Goita also named opposition leader and former minister Choguel Maiga as prime minister of the transitional government, according to a decree read on state television.
Maiga is a former minister and member of the M5 protest movement, the group that helped to force out former president Keita last August. The M5 became sidelined in the army-dominated post-coup administration.
The newly-appointed prime minister is expected to form an inclusive government to face the challenges of the political transition in Mali, including the organization of elections as scheduled in the Transition Charter.
