Mali: Choguel Maïga, comeback or swan song?
Malian Prime Minister Choguel Maïga (left) alongside transitional president Assimi Goïta, here in Kati, January 20, 2022. AFP - FLORENT VERGNES
Text by: David Baché
2 mins
In Mali, Choguel Maïga made his big comeback Monday, December 5 at the Primature after being put on forced rest for medical reasons.
After four months of uncertainty and a last week during which the vagueness had been maintained, Choguel Maïga is therefore well and truly back in business.
A return which did not fail to make the Malian political class react.
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The Prime Minister of
Mali
, welcomed by the applause of his team, began with a meeting with the one who had ensured his interim,
Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga,
Minister of Territorial Administration.
Many thought that
Choguel Maïga
would never set foot in the Primature again and that he had been ousted for a long time, others strongly demanded his return.
After four months of uncertainty and a last week during which the vagueness had been maintained,
Choguel Maïga is therefore well and truly back in business.
"
He returns serene, determined, with iron morale
", assures a close collaborator of Choguel Maïga.
“
He was supported by the president himself and by the entire Malian people, that strengthens him politically
”, still judges this support from the Prime Minister.
Of the "
mess up
"
“
He came back to die out
”, predicts on the contrary a pillar of the opposition.
“
The colonels couldn't humiliate him, but they will end up having him resign
,” he adds.
Between his release from convalescence on November 25 and the formalization of his return to the Primature on December 4, Choguel Maïga had to wait nearly ten days and multiply public statements.
Many critical voices believe that these procrastination are proof of differences at the top of the state between the five putschist colonels.
But also a lack of an alternative: “
They had no other solution!
“, taunts an opponent.
Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga, who had served in the interim, was elevated to the rank of Minister of State and remained holder of the Territorial Administration and spokesman for the government.
Is this a thank you for good offices?
Rather “
a way of not leaving him under the tutelage of Choguel
”, comments another former minister, “
but that keeps two men at the head of the government
”.
It's "
mess
up ", abounds another who deplores the maneuvers of power at a time when "
social discontent is mounting
".
“There is work and he will assume his mission until the end
”
Comments swept away by a collaborator of Choguel Maïga.
"
He's a major political player, he doesn't come back to do extras.
There is work and he will assume his mission until the end
”, according to him.
The Executive of the opposition parties, which has always considered Choguel Maïga too divisive to be head of government, is in any case preparing for him an eventful return.
A new broader protest platform is announced, with political parties, but also unions and religious.
Consultations are still ongoing.
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Choguel Maiga