The West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, on Tuesday said it regretted Mali’s ruling military body’s decision to extend the transition back to civilian rule by 24 months while negotiations between the two sides were ongoing, reported Reuters.
The statement comes after Mali’s military junta issued a decree on Monday that fixed the transition timetable to 24 months, to be counted from March 2022.
Mali has seen two military coups since August 2020, when the military ousted elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. A second de-facto coup occurred in May 2021, when strongman Goita pushed out an interim civilian government and took over the presidency.
Mali’s military rulers had previously promised to return power to civilians by February 2022 but subsequently delayed the timetable. ECOWAS imposed stiff sanctions in January after the junta said it would not organize democratic elections the following month as initially planned.
The military leaders had first proposed a five-year election timeline that was later revised to two. The length of the transition led to a tiff between Mali and ECOWAS as well as with its partners including the United States and former colonial power, France.
The ECOWAS has been calling for a shorter extension of 16 months or less.
“ECOWAS regrets that while negotiations are still ongoing to reach a consensus, the Malian Authorities took this decision on the transition,” the bloc said in a statement.
The statement added that a negotiator from the bloc would continue to talk with the Malian authorities to reach a mutually agreed timeline.
Leaders from the West African regional bloc member countries met in Ghana over the weekend, where they decided not to lift sanctions against Mali, which include border closures and restrictions on financial transactions unless the junta proposed a shorter transition. The leaders are expected to meet for another summit before July 3.
