Mali: sanctions maintained, polarity reinforced
Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonhatan, mediator for Mali, during an ECOWAS meeting in Accra, September 16, 2021 (Illustration image).
AFP - NIPAH DENNIS
Text by: David Baché
4 mins
The exceptional summits of ECOWAS and UEMOA which were held on Saturday, June 4, in Accra, did not allow any progress, neither for Guinea, nor for Burkina, nor for Mali.
The expected decisions have been postponed until July 3.
Bamako was hoping for a possible lifting of the economic and financial sanctions that have hit Mali since the beginning of January.
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In its final press release, ECOWAS indicates to maintain its sanctions and to continue the dialogue with the Malian authorities of transition, a snub for the Malian authorities who have still not reacted officially, as well as the promise of a new period of tension.
The Malian authorities were already preparing for a lifting of the embargo.
Instructions had even been given, according to several documents from the Malian Ministry of the Economy to which RFI was able to have access, for the mobilization of customs personnel at the borders.
And for good reason.
According to diplomatic sources, Bamako had agreed to revise, downwards, its proposal for an extension of the transition by two years.
How precisely?
Sixteen ?
Eighteen ?
Twenty months?
The sources maintain the vagueness... but not enough in any case to convince the firmest heads of state of ECOWAS, including that of Niger and those of several English-speaking countries such as Ghana, Gambia and, to a lesser extent, the Nigeria.
This new failure is in any case synonymous, for the Malians who hoped for a lifting or relaxation of the sanctions that hit them, with disappointment, frustration, even anger, which will not fail to further polarize Malian society.
For supporters of the transitional authorities, ECOWAS is unable to listen to the suffering of the people and respond to their aspirations.
Their adversaries blame, on the contrary, the putschist military and their will to cling to power, instead of letting the Malians quickly choose their leaders with democratic elections.,We are far from the appeasement and the union that the two camps hoped to be able to rebuild, at the end of this summit.
Negotiations are continuing.
“
Irresponsibility
” of ECOWAS leaders
Sory Ibrahima Traoré is the president of the Front for Emergence and Renewal in Mali (FER-Mali), which supports the transitional authorities.
Joined by RFI, he said he was "
surprised
" by
the "irresponsibility
" of the ECOWAS heads of state.
"
The decision to maintain the sanctions is an unpleasant surprise but it only confirms our analysis of the lack of responsibility of the leaders of ECOWAS who, from our point of view, are waging a proxy war in Mali, for the account of France, which takes a dim view of the partnership with the Russian Federation
", he believes.
Asked whether he thinks France can manipulate them, although among the strongest states there is Niger and especially English-speaking countries such as Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria, Sory Ibrahim is categorical: “
Obviously !
It is obvious that Mali is part of France's zone of influence and in view of everything that is happening in international geopolitics, it is easy to understand that the influence of Russia is not to taste. of France,
he says
.
By July 3
[next ECOWAS summit, editor's note]
, we believe that ECOWAS will be more grateful for the efforts made by the authorities of the transition and that these sanctions will be lifted because they make all the populations of the member countries of ECOWAS suffer, and not only Mali.
»
"
Give pledges and move towards an opening
"
On the other side of the Malian political field, Ismaël Sacko chairs the PSDA, the African Social Democratic Party, a member of the Framework which brings together the Malian opposition parties.
For him, on the contrary, it is the Malian transitional authorities who are responsible for this new failure of the negotiations.
“
The authorities of the Malian transition did not have the tact necessary to be a force of proposal in relation to the deadline that the heads of state of ECOWAS were expecting.
It must also be recognized that today there is a lack of trust between the Malian authorities and the Heads of State of ECOWAS, due to the non-respect of the deadlines for the transition of the first phase, and the management of the second phase.
So it is important today, for the authorities of the Malian transition, to give the pledges, the necessary guarantees of mutual trust, but also to move towards an opening: that there is a new Prime Minister who is neutral, consensual, unifying and which can bring Mali back into the fold of the concert of nations,
analyzes Ismaël Sacko
.
It is clear that the Heads of State of ECOWAS have also been quite tough, so we ask them to be flexible and we welcome this state of mind to maintain on both sides the negotiations which will continue to allow to get out of this mess.
»
►Also read: ECOWAS postpones its decisions on transitions in Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso
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