ECOWAS mediator for Mali calls on President of Transition
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The mediator of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for Mali, former president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, arrived here Friday and called on the president of the transition, Colonel Assimi Goïta, at the palace of Koulouba, an official source told PANA.
Nothing has filtered from the meeting between the two men butt the ECOWAS envoy has never made a secret of his determination to obtain from Bamako a reasonable timetable for the holding of elections.
Mali is under heavy economic sanctions imposed by the sub-regional organization.
The Malian authorities have always denounced the unfair nature of the sanctions, contending that the solution to the political and security crisis in the country cannot be summed up in the holding of hasty elections.
The transitional authorities, who want to rebuild the state, believe that the implementation of this undertaking requires in-depth work and the necessary time.
Jonathan visited Mali on 24 February, 2022, to see the evolution of the situation in the country after the sanctions imposed on it by the Heads of State of the sub-regional organization during an extraordinary summit in Accra on 9 January.
In a statement, the ECOWAS Commission said the mission followed technical meetings held a week earlier on the timetable for the elections and thus allowed "to discuss the next steps with the transitional authorities".
The sanctions include the closure of member states' borders with Mali, the freezing of its assets at the BCEAO and the suspension of all aid to the country, whose authorities had announced that it would be impossible to hold the elections initially scheduled for 27 February 2022, due to insecurity in a large part of the country.
-0- PANA GT/JSG/SOC/BBA/RA 19March2022
