Mali: new day of protest in Bamako at the call of the opposition

New opposition rally Independence Square, Bamako, Mali on June 19, 2020. RFI / Coralie Pierret

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A rally is planned for this Friday afternoon at the Independence Square in Bamako. Since June 5, the protest movement has demanded the resignation of the head of state.

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With our correspondents in Bamako ,   Coralie Pierret and Serge Daniel

Independence Square, the leaders of this opposition movement are expected. The official gallery begins to fill gradually and the demonstrators take out their placard or their vuvuzela. The leaders of M5 , i.e. the Front of the opposition parties, EMK, the civil society coalition, and the CMAS of Imam Dicko, will speak from 2 p.m. local time. The organizers warn: the speeches will be brief this time and all insist on the peaceful side of this demonstration. Because this rally worries in Bamako, in the mysteries of power and beyond the borders of Mali. The tensions have, in fact, gone up a notch in the last 15 days since the demonstration on June 5.

The main demand remains the resignation of the Head of State, because according to what a demonstrator confided "  there is no longer any solution for Mali  ". However, here and there, the discourse had softened somewhat after the first demonstration on June 5. Imam Mahmoud Dicko on our antenna was open to a dialogue with the Head of State, provided that the president "  listens to all Malians,  " he said.

Ibrahima Boubacar Keïta has reached out several times in recent days. Sunday in an address to the nation, this Tuesday at the convention center, where he notably proposed to form a government of national unity. A proposal immediately rejected by the M5 who did not come to the CICB elsewhere to hear the President's proposals. Since then, the discourse of opponents has once again hardened. They have kept their course, including in front of the delegation of ECOWAS, the West-regional organization, in the capital since yesterday. It did not obtain from the organizers the postponement of the planned meeting this afternoon.

Failure of the ECOWAS

This new demonstration causes political tensions. The President of the National Assembly warned the marchers, likening them to the jihadists. It is precisely to try to find a way out of this socio-political crisis that the ECOWAS sent its delegation . It is notably composed of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Niger as well as the President of the Commission.

This mission of the ECOWAS in Bamako ends in principle this Friday afternoon "  without much result  " according to our information. We wished without success that the opposition, the contest postponed the demonstration scheduled for today,  " said a member of the ECOWAS delegation to RFI. The same source continues: "  The two camps must calm the situation  ".

The delegation met the majority, the opposition with its leader Imam Mahmoud Dicko and the Malian President IBK. All without tangible results. Even if in the entourage of Imam Mahmoud Dicko, we say we are convinced that the subregion institution can contribute to the relaxation. Besides still according to our information, it is not excluded that at least one head of state of the sub-region plans the displacement of Bamako.

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  • Mali
  • Cedeao
  • Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta

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