Mali shows its “satisfaction” for the withdrawal of the “illegal and inhuman” sanctions of ECOWAS

The military junta promises to work to “restore constitutional order” and “achieve peace”

July 5. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Mali’s military junta has shown its “satisfaction” with the decision of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to withdraw the “illegal, illegitimate and inhumane” sanctions applied in January due to the delays in the transition process opened after the August 2020 coup.

The spokesman for the transitional government, Abdoulaye Maiga, said in a statement that the decision “takes into account the demands of the Malian people, especially the need to carry out political and institutional reforms before organizing elections.”

Thus, he confirmed that Bamako “suspends the application of its national response plan” to the sanctions and thanked the population for “their sacrifice and resilience”, before emphasizing that they will continue working to return to constitutional order.

“In line with the vision of the transitional president, Assimi Goita, to restore constitutional order, achieve peace, stability and good governance, the Government is committed to doing everything possible to materialize the objectives of the transition expected by the Malian people”, Maiga concluded.

The sanctions on Mali included the closure of borders, the freezing of Malian assets and the suspension of commercial and financial exchanges, although ECOWAS decided to maintain the financial sanctions that target the leaders of the junta. Mali also remains suspended from the regional body.

Goita led the coup against the then Malian president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, in August 2020, and subsequently led a second coup d’état in May 2021 against the transitional authorities – at which time he overthrew the president and prime minister, Bah Ndaw and Moctar Ouane–, rising to power.

ECOWAS imposed sanctions after the postponement of the elections scheduled for February and proposed a period of between 12 to 18 months for the Malian coup plotters to hand over power to civilian authorities through new elections, although the junta recently announced an extension of two years of the transition period.