September 07, (THEWILL) – The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Tuesday said it feared potential delays in conducting elections in Mali.
ECOWAS In a statement, said it remained “worried by the lack of concrete action” to prepare for the vote, which has been promised for February 2022 by Coup leader, Colonel Assimi Goita.
The announcement came at the end of a three-day mission to Mali led by former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan.
The 15-nation Community of West African States, has repeatedly voiced fears about the situation in Mali, one of the region’s poorest and most volatile states.
“The mission recalled the importance of respecting the date of the announced elections in order to demonstrate the credibility of the transition process,” said the ECOWAS statement, which was read out to journalists in Bamako on Tuesday.
Already struggling with a bloody jihadist conflict, Mali slid into political turmoil last year, culminating in a military coup in August 2020 against elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
The military had appointed an interim civilian government tasked with steering back to democratic rule. But Goita, had again in May, deposed the government, and declared himslf, President.
He has pledged to respect the February deadline for elections set by the interim government, which also set October 31 as a date for holding a constitutional referendum.
However, with swathes of the vast country lie outside of government control, rampant insecurity in Mali, has cast doubt on the reform timetable.
Mali is also experiencing chronic political instability. Last week, a Police Special-force Commander, who had been detained as part of an investigation into the killings of protesters in 2020, was released after armed police officers turned up at the prison where he was being held.
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