Mali: details of Choguel Maïga's action plan
Malian Prime Minister Choguel Maïga, here June 6, 2021 © Serge Daniel / RFI
Text by: David Baché
10 mins
Re-reading of the peace agreement, strengthening of the armed forces, transparent elections: in Mali, the Prime Minister of the Transition Choguel Maïga presented his government action plan this Friday, July 30 to the National Transitional Council (CNT).
Rereading the peace agreement, strengthening the armed forces, transparent elections: what to remember from this action plan
Publicity
Read more
The Prime Minister spoke to members of the
CNT
, which currently serves as the Legislative Assembly, during an extraordinary session.
Choguel Maïga
began his intervention with "
a minute of prayer
" in memory of all the victims, Malians and foreigners, of the crisis.
Then he paid tribute to "
the forces of change
": the M5, the motley movement made up of political parties, unions and civil society organizations, of which he had become the spearhead, and "
the security forces
" .
Clearly, the military who finally overthrew President IBK last August, marginalizing the M5 for a while, and with whom Choguel Maïga crossed swords until his appointment as Prime Minister at the beginning of June.
A way for the Prime Minister to "
rectify the transition
" - this is how the second coup d'état at the end of which Choguel Maïga was appointed was presented - to seal reconciliation with those he had so strongly decried for months.
Strengthening the army
Once he got to the heart of the matter, Choguel Maïga presented a program in four axes.
First axis: strengthening security.
To improve the fight against terrorism and banditry, the Prime Minister undertakes to place "
all the material and human resources necessary
" at the disposal of the defense and security forces: reinforcement of the workforce, modernization of equipment and improvement of the training.
The
disarmament and reintegration
strategy
, provided for in the 2015 peace agreement, will be accelerated.
Targeted actions will be carried out in the central and northern regions of the country, to restore social and basic services.
Rereading the peace agreement
On a more controversial subject, Choguel Maïga put back on the table his project of "
intelligent and consensual rereading of the
peace agreement
", in order to promote "
collective appropriation
".
Certain provisions will be reread according to the terms provided for by the agreement: an “
inescapable
”
approach
, according to Choguel Maïga, who did not specify which provisions he was thinking of.
An approach on which the former rebels of the CMA express strong reservations.
National conference of the refoundation
Second axis: political and institutional reforms.
Choguel Maïga advocates a "
renovation of the political framework
" in order to make the institutions "
stronger and more legitimate
".
To this end, and as he had already mentioned, Choguel Maïga announces the “
National Refoundation Assizes
”, a framework for dialogue which will be based on the conclusions of the Inclusive National Dialogue and the others - very numerous - “
fora
” having taken place in recent years.
Elections on time
Third axis:
the organization of general
, presidential and legislative elections, which should mark the end of the Transition and the return to constitutional order. Unsurprisingly, the Prime Minister promises them "
transparent, credible and inclusive
". To do this, he once again defended a significant reform, that of the establishment of a single electoral management body.
"
A persistent demand expressed for decades by the political class and the civil society
", recalled the head of government, in order to restore the confidence of all during electoral competitions.
Since this issue, many political parties have expressed their fears that this ambitious reform, and all the others, will lead to an extension of the transition period.
Choguel Maïga, who had already explained that he intended to respect the commitments made to the Malians and the international community - a presidential election in February and legislative elections in March -, did not go into the details of the action plan schedule, but he assured that he "
took into account the temporal delays of the transition
".
Social pact
Fourth axis: the promotion of good governance and the adoption of a social stability pact. Choguel Maïga promises a "governance of rupture and exemplarity", based on the fight against corruption and impunity, "at the base of the decay of our State". The head of government announces audits on public buildings, a commission of inquiry into the demolitions carried out in the Bamako airport area as well as investigations into the abuses of June 10, 11 and 12 in Bamako, Sikasso and Kayes - when civilians demonstrating against the IBK regime had been killed.
On the social level, Choguel Maïga promises to release "minimum 100 billion" for priority social sectors for the benefit of the most deprived.
The return of displaced persons and refugees to their locality of origin is declared a priority of the government.
Choguel Maïga also promises a new conference, social this time, and which will be organized "
in consultation with the social partners
".
Objective: to find the compromises allowing to reconcile the improvement of the life of the workers and the budget of the State, and this while the end of the IBK period and the beginning of the Transition were marked by repeated strikes.
“
Our teacher parents have nothing to fear
“, Moreover promised Choguel Maïga, faced with concerns related to the harmonization of salaries in the public service.
2050 billion
The
fight against the coronavirus
, improving access to health and drinking water, promoting culture, taking gender and youth into account were also mentioned, at the end of the speech, as priorities that remain.
For the Bamako partners, Choguel Maïga finally assured that Mali would continue to respect all its international commitments.
"
Our country is at a decisive turning point in its history, it is playing its survival with the help of brotherly countries and multilateral organizations
", insisted on formulating the Prime Minister.
The cost of this program was estimated by the Prime Minister of the Transition at more than 2050 billion FCFA.
► To read also: Mali: Prime Minister Choguel Maïga presented his plan to end the crisis
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Mali
Assimi Goïta
Choguel Maïga
On the same subject
Mali: Choguel Maïga speaks out in favor of a single body for the organization of elections
Mali: Choguel Maïga met ECOWAS and promises a new government by Sunday