Highlights: The list of members of the steering committee for the future inter-Malian dialogue was published this Wednesday, January 31 in the Official Journal. Announced by the transitional president, Colonel Assimi Goïta, during his New Year's speech, this dialogue is supposed to allow " national ownership of the peace process" The steering committee, which has just been revealed, is wide-ranging. But some key players were not invited. None of the armed groups signatories to the defunct peace agreement were invited.

In Mali, the list of members of the steering committee for the future inter-Malian dialogue was published this Wednesday, January 31 in the Official Journal. Announced by the transitional president, Colonel Assimi Goïta,…

Inter-Malian dialogue: a plethoric steering committee but with absences

In Mali, the list of members of the steering committee for the future inter-Malian dialogue was published this Wednesday, January 31 in the

Official Journal

. Announced by the transitional president, Colonel Assimi Goïta, during his New Year's speech, this dialogue is supposed to allow "

national ownership of the peace process

" and "

to eliminate the roots of community and intercommunity conflicts

". The steering committee, which has just been revealed, is wide-ranging. But some key players were not invited.

View of the presidential palace in Bamako (illustration). SEBASTIEN RIEUSSEC / AFP

By: David Baché

There are 140 of them. An impressive number for this steering committee, which brings together representatives of all the communities of

Mali

, as well as religious, political, military, academics, magistrates, journalists and association leaders, from different parts of the country. The inter-Malian dialogue desired by the transitional authorities, to be representative and legitimate, must not forget anyone.

Its steering committee is chaired by former Prime Minister Ousmane Issoufi Maïga, originally from the Gao region in the North. He will be assisted by a vice-president and two rapporteurs. We also note the presence of several former ministers, such as Zeini Moulaye, Abou Sow, Aminata Dramane Traoré and General Yamoussa Camara.

No indication of objectives

Contacted by RFI, several members of this steering committee explain that they have not yet received any indication on the concrete objectives of this dialogue, on the work expected of the steering committee to which they belong, nor on the planned deadlines. Yet crucial information, which will probably come with the official installation of this committee, the date of which has not been communicated. Should this dialogue lead to the drafting of a document supposed to replace the 2015 peace agreement? Writing new laws? To other initiatives, national or local? At this stage, the vagueness still remains. “

Work is underway to clarify all of this, it is still too early

,” explains one of the committee executives.

Also read: Mali: the ruling junta announces the “end with immediate effect” of the Algiers agreement

Asked by RFI, the Ministry of National Reconciliation did not provide details.

Denial or surprise from certain members

While the name of one of its members appears on the list published in the

Official Journal

, Codem, an opposition political party, has denied its participation in the committee. The party was neither “

consulted

” nor “

solicited

” and is “

in no way represented

” there, according to the press release published this Thursday morning. Another personality contacted by RFI, whose name appears on the list published in the official journal, was not able to confirm whether it was indeed her or a possible namesake.

The members of the steering committee did not have to take a position on the resumption of the war in the North last summer, nor on Mali's exit from the 2015 peace agreement, finally made official last week by the Malian transitional authorities, but they will have to work on this inter-Malian dialogue presented by Bamako as an alternative to the 2015 peace agreement. With discussions between Malians directly and exclusively, without any external mediator.

No representatives of armed groups

But also without certain key players in the country's internal conflicts. None of the armed groups signatories to the defunct peace agreement were invited. A surprise for the groups now allied with the transitional authorities, notably the MSA and Gatia, who also hope that the names they proposed could be added. This is what several executives from these groups confirmed to RFI.

No surprise, however, for the armed groups of the CSP (Permanent Strategic Framework), today at war against the Malian transitional government. Almost exclusively from the northern independence movements, and now considered by Bamako as “

terrorists

” in the same way as jihadists linked to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State, they were not invited to participate in this dialogue, which they themselves consider to be “

a masquerade

”, “

a non-event

” intended to “

entertain the gallery

”.

In these conditions, and despite the virtues and the involvement of its participants, it is difficult to see how the future inter-Malian dialogue could bring peace.

Inter-Malian dialogue: a plethoric steering committee but with absences

Inter-Malian dialogue: a plethoric steering committee but with absences

No indication of objectives

Denial or surprise from certain members

No representatives of armed groups

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