Soldiers that seized power in Mali have agreed to release ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, while proposing a three year military rule.
Last week’s coup, which is Mali’s second in eight years — followed months of protests calling for Keita to resign as public discontent with the government grew over the collapsing economy and a brutal Islamist insurgency
On 18 August 2020, elements of the Malian Armed Forces began a mutiny. Soldiers on pick-up trucks stormed the Soundiata military base in the town of Kati, where gunfire was exchanged before weapons were distributed from the armory.
They arrested the President, his prime minister, Prime minister Boubou Cisse and other top political officers.
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Keita subsequently resigned to avoid bloodshed after he was detained in a military coup, whose leaders pledged new elections to resolve a spiralling political crisis in the fragile West African nation.
Read Also: Mali’s President, Ibrahim Keita Resigns After Arrest By Mutinying Soldiers
According to a source in a visiting West African delegation, the Junta which seized power, wants a military-led transitional body to rule for three years.
Speaking with AFP, a source in the ECOWAS delegation in capital Bamako said;
The junta has affirmed that it wants a three-year transition to review the foundations of the Malian state. This transition will be directed by a body led by a soldier, who will also be head of state. The government will also be predominantly composed of soldiers.
The source added that the junta has agreed to “free president Keita”, who has been detained along with other political leaders since the coup on Tuesday, and he “will be able to return to his home” in Bamako.
According to the source, the junta said; “And if he wants to travel abroad for (medical) treatment, that is not a problem”.
Cisse, who has been detained with Keita at a military base outside the capital where the coup began, would be moved to a secure residence in the city, the source said.
The junta has said it “completed the work” of protesters and has vowed to stage elections “within a reasonable time”.
While the coup was met with international condemnation, thousands of opposition supporters celebrated the president’s ouster in the streets of Bamako.
Read Also: FG Condemns Mali Coup, Demands Return To Constitutional Order
Mali’s neighbours have called for Keita to be reinstated, saying the purpose of the visit by the delegation from the regional ECOWAS bloc was to help “ensure the immediate return of constitutional order”.
