National consultations on political transition open in Mali
Opening of national consultations on the political transition in Mali, this Saturday, September 5, 2020. David Baché / RFI
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
These discussions began this Saturday, September 5, a little after 10 a.m. local time.
They are held in Bamako and in the regional capitals of the country, after the military coup of August 18, and bring together all the "living forces of the country": political parties, civil society and armed groups signatories of the peace agreement.
All must lay the groundwork for this transition, under the leadership of the military in power for more than two weeks.
Publicity
Read more
With our special
correspondent in Bamako,
David Baché
National consultations are supposed to lay the groundwork for a transition, under the leadership of the military from the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP).
It was Colonel Malick Diaw, first vice-president of CNSP, who presided over the opening ceremony, this Saturday morning, in Bamako.
“
Since August 18, 2020, we are sporting a new era in the history of our country,
” said the latter
.
The agenda of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People is therefore clear and precise.
It is about contributing to the reconstruction of our country by guaranteeing the continuation of the democratic process.
This necessarily requires bold, far-reaching reforms.
Time is running out, we must go quickly.
This stage of validation of the reference themes constitutes the first phase of pause of the milestones on the future of our nation.
"
Colonel Goïta absent
Work began immediately after the opening ceremony.
But without the president of the Committee for the Salvation of the People, Colonel Assimi Goïta.
An absence that the CNSP representatives refused to comment on.
The start of the consultation was also disturbed by young people from M5-RFP, the opposition movement which led the popular protest for months before the coup.
The young people of M5 complained that they were not represented on all the committees and thus began to raise their voices in the room.
An "
attempt at sabotage
", according to the soldiers who allowed them to attend all the discussions.
Everyone was then able to join their working group.
More than 500 participants
More than 500 participants responded to the invitation of the military junta: representatives of political parties of all stripes, unions, civil society organizations and armed groups from the North signatories of the 2015 peace agreement, with the exception of ex-rebels of the CMA who, while reaffirming their commitment to "
collaborate with the CNSP
", denounce a "
little reassuring dilettantism
" in the organization of this consultation.
All the other players are therefore working, this Saturday, on
the "
terms of reference
"
of this national consultation, on its objectives, namely, according to the document presented by the CNSP, "
the main axes of the transition roadmap
": “
The architecture and the bodies of transition
” as well as the “
charter of the transition
”.
Clearly, this is the length of the period which begins and which should lead to legislative and presidential elections and, consequently, to the return to constitutional order.
It is also a question of defining the distribution of the posts of the leaders of the transition, between civilians and soldiers.
This is precisely the crux of the conflict between the ruling junta and the ECOWAS, the regional organization, since the coup.
Today, therefore, the CNSP is proposing to the “
Malian living forces
”, according to the established terms, to validate these objectives and it will only be next week that the substance of these questions will be addressed.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Mali
On the same subject
Mali: a complaint lodged with ECOWAS to have the sanctions against the country canceled
National consultations in Mali: the junta in search of a difficult consensus