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Goodluck Jonathan, the ECOWAS mediator, was on a visit to convey a message from the heads of state of the sub-regional organization to the president of the transition, Colonel Assimi Goïta. This trip is also a staging post before the extraordinary summit of ECOWAS heads of state to be held on January 9.
The meeting between the president of the transition, Colonel Assimi Goïta and the representative of ECOWAS, Goodluck Jonathan, was expected and lasted nearly two hours at the presidential palace in Koulouba. At the end of this meeting, the former Nigerian president preferred to remain discreet regarding the discussions just like the Malian presidency, which soberly evokes on Twitter the evolution of the political situation in Mali, according to our correspondent in Bamako, Kaourou Magassa. At the heart of the discussions, there was, however, the proposed timetable providing for an extension of the transition by five years.
During a meeting with the diplomatic corps accredited to Mali and the emissaries of ECOWAS, this proposal was rejected by a majority of the personalities present in the room. A rejection also expressed by several political parties and associations which at the same time organized a press conference.
To diplomats accredited in Bamako, Goodluck Jonathan, made it clear that the five-year political transition proposed by the Malian junta does not pass. A member of the mediation delegation added to reporters: “ Five years of transition for putschists ? It is for example more than the mandate of a democratically elected president in Nigeria “. The envoy of the sub-regional institution therefore suggested to these interlocutors to review the copy, summarizes our correspondent in Bamako, Serge Daniel. Goodluck Jonathan delivered the gist of his thoughts in one sentence: “ The clock is ticking “. The countdown has begun.
Five years, a basis for discussion for the transitional authorities
In view of the extraordinary summit of ECOWAS heads of state, the transitional authorities are playing the diplomacy card to ensure that they explain their priority of implementing the reforms resulting from the National Assembly of the refoundation before any election. The chronogram is ” a basis for discussions between the wishes of the Malians and the demands of the ECOWAS Explained the Minister of Territorial Administration and that of Foreign Affairs during a press briefing at Bamako airport. After Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone, Malian delegations will be dispatched to Algeria, Nigeria and other capitals to continue this advocacy.
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