Accra, Jan 10, GNA – Dr Festus Aubyn, a Security Analyst, has urged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the interim Government of Mali to use a “flexible and pragmatic” approach to return the country to constitutional rule.
He urged both the regional Bloc and the interim Government not to hold entrenched positions on the roadmap to return the country to a democratic state, after it had experienced two coups between August 2020 and May 2021.
The interim Government had proposed a five-year transitional period instead of the originally agreed February 2022 deadline to hold elections and facing stricter sanctions from ECOWAS.
The sanctions include the closure of members’ land and air borders with Mali, the suspension of non-essential financial transactions, and the freezing of Malian State assets in ECOWAS commercial banks and by the Central Bank of the eight-nation West African CFA franc zone.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the development in the country, Dr Aubyn, said, the sanctions were “necessary” and described the proposal by the interim Malian Government as “unrealistic.”
He asked ECOWAS to consider giving the transitional Government of the largest producer of cotton in Africa up to August 2022 to hold elections.
“The five years that the military transitional government is proposing is unrealistic, and the military junta is going to hold the population hostage,” he noted.
The Security Analyst said with the withdrawal of French troops from the country and with the current political issues, ECOWAS needed to be very diplomatic and guide Mali to constitutional rule.
He added that, “ECOWAS should continue the mediation effort and even if Mali is unable to organise the election in this February, we can look at a realistic timeframe that can be accepted by all. Moving the period of holding elections to June or August this year [2022] will give them more time to prepare for the election.”
“ECOWAS should continue to play its father role and be flexible based on the responses of the transitional government and find a mutually accepted framework to ensure that Mali returns to constitutional order.
“The military junta should not take a rigid stand that they would not listen to what ECOWAS is proposing. They need to be more forward looking, welcoming to the guidance of ECOWAS and show goodwill in terms of their readiness to return their country to constitutional order,” he said.
The Security Analyst said: “Malians should not sit down unconcerned. They can engage in peaceful protests to put pressure on the transitional government, whether on social media or physical protest.”
Dr Aubyn also asked ECOWAS and other international bodies, to help strengthen democratic institutions in the country, particularly election, anti-corruption, and local governance bodies.
Additionally, he said, there was the need for improvement in Mali’s security forces to enable them undertake reforms that would make them capture the country’s territorial enclaves.
GNA