Calls for Mali’s president to resign - Answered by Keita

MALI - COUNTRY PROFILE

• Officially known as Republic of Mali, this landlocked country is situated in West Africa. Its capital is Bamako.
• The first democratic presidential elections in Mali were held in 1992. Before that, it was under military dictatorship for almost 23 years.
• The President. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was first elected in 2013 and re-elected for the second term in August 2018.

BEGINNING OF CRISIS IN MALI

• It all started back in 2012 when the country struggled with military intervention and regular uprisings by rebels and extremist groups.
• Before this intervention, Mali's democracy was taken as a success story among the West African countries.
• Since 2013, the country of Mali and its people have been facing various occurrences of violence and attacks.

MALI MILITARY TAKEOVER

• On 30 April 2020, the disputed elections took a new turn when Mali's court overturned the results of 31 seats by giving 10 more seats to Keita's party. The decision sparked protests.
• The alliance 'Movement of June 5 - Rally of Patriotic Forces' demanded Keita's resignation.
• The protests continued and soon turned violent on July 10.
• The foundation of these protests was based on the poor economy of the country as well as the mishandling of the security situation.
• All the pleas from mediators to resolve the conflict was rejected by the protesters.
• President Mali resigned on 19 August 2020 and dissolved the Parliament hours after mutinying soldiers detained him at gunpoint.

CURRENT SITUATION IN MALI

• No concrete decision has been made yet to re-establish the civilian rule as there were talks between delegation of West African envoys and military officers who overthrew the President.
• The military spokesman stated that the decision on the interim transitional administration would be taken up 'by Malians' only.
• However, no final schedule has been decided for elections by the coup leaders.