Published 15:06 IST, August 19th 2020
Mali soldiers promise to organise fresh elections soon amid political crisis
Leaders of Mali military coup those who overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar's government and forced him to resign said they would bring a political transition.
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On August 19, leaders of military coup those who overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s government and forced him to resign said they would bring a political transition and will soon hold elections within a reasonable time. In-state television broadcast Ismael Wague, the Malian Air Force deputy chief of staff said The National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP), will be formed to oversee the political transition. This big change came after Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar resigned on August 19, after being detained in a coup set by mutinous troops.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were taken to Kati military camp, which is 15 Kilometres northwest from the capital city Bamako and after this both top political leaders resigned from their respective positions. From the last several months West African country Mali was witnessing protests and demonstrators were asking for the resignation of the President. After this development, the United Nations Security Council scheduled a closed meeting on August 19 afternoon to discuss the unfolding situation in Mali, where the United Nations has a 15,600-strong peacekeeping mission.
The Coup
Keita, who was democratically elected in 2013 and re-elected five years later, was left with few choices after the mutinous soldiers seized weapons from the armory in the garrison town of Kati and then advanced on the capital of Bamako. They took Prime Minister Boubou Cisse into custody along with the president. There was no immediate comment Wednesday from the troops, who hailed from the same military barracks where a coup was launched more than eight years ago, allowing the Islamic insurgency to take hold amid a power vacuum. The political upheaval unfolded months after disputed legislative elections. And it also came as support for Keita tumbled amid criticism of his government’s handling of the insurgency, which has engulfed a country once praised as a model of democracy in the region.
(With inputs from agency)
(Image Credit-AP)
15:06 IST, August 19th 2020