Mali coup leaders pledge election 鈥榬easonably鈥 soon
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Soldiers who ousted Mali鈥檚 president and government in a military coup promised yesterday to oversee elections within a 鈥渞easonable鈥 time, as calls from abroad grew for a peaceful resolution to an acute political crisis.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned and dissolved parliament on Tuesday, hours after the mutineers detained him at gunpoint, further destabilizing a country already in the grip of a jihadist insurgency and with a recent history of civil unrest.
The 15-nation regional Economic Community of West African States acted quickly to suspend Mali, fearing Keita鈥檚 fall after nearly seven years in power could destabilize West Africa鈥檚 entire Sahel region.
As investors ditched shares in gold companies in the country while a sense of calm pervaded the capital Bamoko, it was still not clear early yesterday who was leading the revolt.
A spokesman for the mutineers, calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, said they had acted to prevent Mali from further chaos.
Colonel Ismael Wague invited Mali鈥檚 civil society and political movements to join to create conditions for a political transition.
鈥淥ur country is sinking into chaos, anarchy and insecurity mostly due to the fault of the people who are in charge of its destiny,鈥 he said, flanked by soldiers on state-owned television.
鈥淲e are not keen on power, but we are keen on the stability of the country, which will allow us to organize general elections to allow Mali to equip itself with strong institutions within the reasonable time limit.鈥
There was no immediate reaction to Wague鈥檚 offer from the opposition and leaders of recent protests, as the presidency of the G5 Sahel group of neighboring states called on Malians to resolve the crisis peacefully, and demanded the release of Keita and other senior officials.
European Union Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton said the bloc would insist on new elections within a reasonable time frame.
In a violent run-up to the coup following months of protests against alleged corruption, at least 14 people were killed last month in demonstrations called by a coalition Keita鈥檚 political opponents and activists.
Referring to ECOWAS鈥檚 inability to broker a solution, followed by its firm reaction to Tuesday鈥檚 events, a diplomatic source in the region said he feared ECOWAS had 鈥渂urned its bridges.鈥
鈥淲e need a negotiated solution. But who will negotiate with (the mutineers)?鈥 the source said.
Landlocked Mali has struggled to regain stability since a Tuareg uprising in 2012 which was hijacked by Islamist militants linked to al-Qaida, and a subsequent coup in the capital plunged the country into chaos.
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