The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said Tuesday it was “concerned” about the holding, as planned in February 2022, of presidential and legislative elections that are supposed to bring civilians back to power in Mali, after two military coups in one year.
The mission led for three days in Mali by the ECOWAS envoy, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, “remains concerned by the lack of concrete actions in the effective preparation of the electoral process,” according to a statement read to the press.
Mali, plunged into a deep security and political crisis since the outbreak of independence and jihadist insurgencies in the north of the country in 2012, has been the scene of two military coups in August 2020 and May 2021. The ruling military has pledged, under pressure from the international community and ECOWAS, to return power to civilians and hold national elections in February 2022 after a limited 18-month “transition.
However, there is growing doubt that the ruling colonels will respect the timetable. The ECOWAS mission “recalled the importance of respecting the date of the announced elections in order to demonstrate the credibility of the transition process.
It “encouraged the transitional government to quickly present a chronogram” or timetable for the holding of these elections.