Mali: after the appointment of Bah N'Daw, negotiations on the distribution of positions

Colonel Assimi Goita (center), head of the ruling junta in Mali.

September 22, 2020. MICHELE CATTANI / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

4 min

Goodluck Jonathan expected in Bamako this Wednesday for 48 hours.

The ECOWAS mediator comes to take stock of the current transition, two days after the designation of Bah N'daw as president of the transition, and that of Colonel Assimi Goïta as vice-president.

The international community is maintaining the pressure, pending the appointment of a civilian transitional prime minister.

And this, while the head of the junta on Tuesday urged the ECOWAS to lift the sanctions introduced the day after the coup.

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With our special correspondent in Bamako

,

Lift or not the sanctions against Mali?

This is the whole point of Goodluck Jonathan's visit.

If

Monday is considered an “

 ”

signal 

.

ECOWAS is waiting for the rest to decide.

We want above all to be " 

 " that it is indeed a civilian who will be appointed as Prime Minister, explains a source within the organization.

When will the suspense end?

We don't know.

The transition charter provides that the prime minister is appointed by the president.

But it must be invested Friday (a few hours after the planned departure of Goodluck Jonathan. In the meantime, the European chanceries have also sent the message to the junta. " 

 ", slips a diplomatic source, in reference to the double "civil-military" hat of President Bah N'daw. It will be in a way "a test", explains "this source on the" 

 "of the junta not to keep directly or indirectly the all the levers of power And bypass the demands of ECOWAS which demanded the dissolution of the CNSP, author of the coup, as soon as the transition is under way.

Five ministries for the junta

At the same time, informal exchanges continue between the junta and the M5.

The coalition, the spearhead of the anti-IBK protest, is negotiating step by step the place which it sees as its due within the organs of the transition.

The M5 did not participate in the President's designation college on Monday, and denounced it, but does not throw in the towel for all that.

The battle is now being played out in the field of portfolios in the future government.

The junta, according to our information, would like to keep five ministries and not the least: Defense, Security, Equipment, Mines, and Territorial Administration.

Irreversible return of civil power and the organization of rapid elections

French President Emmanuel Macron on Mali

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• Mali

• ECOWAS