On Sunday, the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) held a meeting in Accra over the political crisis in Mali resulting from the ousting of transitional President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister (PM) Moctar Quane by the military, led by Colonel Assimi Goïta, who is Vice President in the transitional government.
The president and PM had been put under house arrest by Col Assimi and his men and they were still under arrest at the time the Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government was taking place in Accra.
Col Assimi, who was summoned to the summit, had earlier justified his action with the explanation that President Ndaw and PM Quane had gone against the terms of the 18-month transition and also, they did not consult him, being the Vice President, on a cabinet reshuffle in which two military officers were replaced.
The summit issued a communiqué which, first of all, condemned the recent coup d’état, citing violation of the decisions taken at the extraordinary summit held in Ghana on September 15, 2020 and a breach of the transition charter.
Subsequently, it suspended Mali from its institutions and demanded the immediate release of the transitional President and Prime Minister from house arrest; immediate nomination of a new civilian Prime Minister and the formation of a new inclusive government to proceed with the 18-month transition programme which expires on February 27, 2022.
It reaffirmed conformity with the 2001 ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
According to the communiqué, the earlier decisions that the head of the transition, the Vice-President and the Prime Minister of the transition should not, under any circumstances, be candidates for the forthcoming Presidential election, was still in force.
The leaders of ECOWAS asked all international partners (the African Union, the United Nations, and the European Union) to sustain their support for Mali towards the successful implementation of the transition and called for the immediate implementation of all these decisions in conformity with the transition timetable.
The Ghanaian Times congratulates the ECOWAS leaders on a successful summit. Each and every one of us hopes the demands and directives would be followed to the letter so that Mali could be readmitted to the regional bloc as soon as possible for it to enjoy whatever benefits there are for it as a member of the bloc.
While we say this, there are two issues that raise questions that were not addressed at the summit. One, how can the leaders of a country suspended from the bloc be made to take active part in implementing decisions that they deem as going against them?
We know non-compliance can attract sanctions but we believe that sanctions, especially economic ones, worsen the plight of the people rather than the leaders.
The other question has to do with the exclusion of the three transitional leaders from contesting the elections that come immediately after the 18-month transition. Can they contest other elections in future, if they so wish? The related question is, if they are banned from all elections, are they going to be retired with all the appropriate benefits and treated as statesmen?
Others can ask more questions, but the Ghanaian Times only wishes to caution that Malians deserve better and all efforts must ensure nothing less.
The post Malians deserve nothing less than better appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
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