Leaders of the Economic Community of West Africa States
(ECOWAS) have called on the 31 parliamentarians holding controversial seats to
resign.
This was one of the resolutions reached by the ECOWAS
leaders at the end of their extraordinary meeting held virtually on Monday
morning.
“The Heads of State and Government ask all political parties
to endeavour to obtain the immediate resignation of all the 31 Members of
Parliament whose election is contested.
“These resignations will pave the way for by-elections.
Pending these by-elections, the Parliament will operate with the 116 remaining
Members,” the leaders said in a communique issued at the end of their meeting.
The communique was read by Nigeria’s minister of state for
foreign affairs, Zubairu Dada.
The West African leaders, however, did not agree with the
opposition’s call for the resignation of President Ibrahim Keita. Instead, they
demanded the formation of a unity government and called on the opposition to be
part of the unity government.
The Crisis
A resistance group in Mali, M5, is insisting that the
Constitutional Court must be dissolved, and the president resigns, before peace
can return to the country.
Crisis erupted after the court nullified results of 31
parliamentary seats in the polls held recently, awarding victory to some other
contenders, which the resistance group said was at the instigation of President
Keita.
Riots on July 10 led to the killing of some protesters by
security agents, causing the crisis to spiral out of control, hence the
intervention by ECOWAS.
But the Special Envoy of ECOWAS to Mali, former Nigerian
President Goodluck Jonathan, who earlier paid a peace mission to Mali last two
weeks, said: “ECOWAS felt that the violent protest should not continue, so I
should lead a special team to go again and engage them (protesters).
Mr Jonathan, who described the outcome of their mission to
Mali as partially successful, expressed the hope that normalcy would soon be
restored to the troubled country.
Read the communique from today’s meeting below.
1. The Heads of States and Government of the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held and extraordinary Summit by
Visio conference on July 27th 2020. They examined the current socio-political
situation in Mali, characterised by demonstrations initiated early June 2020 by
a group which includes political parties, civil society organisations and
various religious associations. This group is called the June 5 Movement Group
of Patriotic Forces (M5-RFP).
2. This socio-political situation is taking place in a
difficult context for Mali, characterised by a serious security threat with
recurring terrorist attacks, inter-community tensions in the Central part of
the country, a social tension marked by a long strike of school teachers, a
health crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic and its economic and financial
consequences.
3. This current crisis is quite similar to the 2012 one when
violent demonstrations led to a military coup on March 22, 2012. It is useful
to recall that this 2012 military coup plunged the Republic of Mali into
uncertainty and favoured the expansion of terrorist jihadist groups in the
country.
4. In order to avoid the repetition of this situation, an
ECOWAS Ministerial Mission was deployed to Bamako from June 18 to 20th by the
Chairperson of ECOWAS to help resolve the crisis. The Ministerial Mission
established the diagnostic of the crisis, and proposed solutions along with
some recommendations. Unfortunately these recommendations were not implemented
and demonstrations continued. They were particularly violent on July 10th, 11th
and 12th and led to numerous deaths, and casualties, with public and private
property destructions.
5. With the deterioration of the situation, ECOWAS appointed
H.E. DR. GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCFR, former President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, as a Special Envoy to lead a Mediation mission to reduce
tension. The Mediator conducted a mission to Bamako from July 15th to 19th 2020
and after meeting all stakeholders, formulated a Roadmap for a way out of the
crisis. This roadmap was accepted by most stakeholders with the exception of
the Strategic Committee of M5-RFP which maintained its demands, namely: The
resignation of the President of the Republic of Mali; The establishment of a
transitional regime; The establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to
investigate the deaths on July 10th, 11th and 12th, and the release of the
Honourable Soumaïla Cissé, head of the Parliamentarian Opposition, abducted
during the legislative elections.
The M5-RFP has also announced that they will resume
demonstrations.
6. To curb this spiral of violence and reach a lasting
solution, a Mission of five (5) Heads of State went to Bamako on Thursday
23July 2020. This mission comprised of H.E. Mahamadou IssoUFOU, President of
the Republic of Niger, current Chairperson of ECOWAS Authority; H.E. Nana Akufo
ADDO, President of the Republic of Ghana; H.E. Alassane OUATTARA, President of
the Republic of Cote d’lvoire H.E. Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria; H.E. Macky SALL, President of the Republic of
Senegal. The Mission met the President of the Republic of Mali, H.E. Ibrahim
Boubacar Keita, as well as the main stakeholders such as the M5-RFP Strategic
Committee with their Spiritual Leader, the Presidential majority in Parliament,
and civil society leaders. The mission indicated to all the stakeholders its
vision for a necessary and quick way out of this crisis.
7. Given the seriousness and the urgency of this situation,
the Heads of State and Government suggested to hold an Extraordinary Summit
with a view to examine the situation and take the necessary decisions to
restore peace and stability in Mali.
8. Following this Extraordinary Summit, the Heads of State
and Government express their condolences to the grieving families and wish a
prompt recovery to the wounded. They express deep concerns on this situation likely
to increase instability in Mali, and in the sub-region. They reiterate their
call to all Malian stakeholders to avoid violence and resort to dialogue for
the resolution of dispute in a context marked by the multidimensional
difficulties that Mali is facing.
9. They congratulate the Mediator and the ECOWAS Commission
for the Work done and express their support to all proposals put forth by the
Mediation and included in the Roadmap.
10. The Heads of State and Government insisted on the
importance and the need to respect the Institutions of the Republic, especially
the Constitutional means of ascending to power in conformity with the ECOWAS
Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
11. The Heads of State and Government noted that the main
Malian Institutions are inoperative. It is therefore paramount to re-establish
as quickly as possible, these sovereign Institutions necessary for the proper
functioning of the State and the management of all issues raised by
demonstrators.
12. The Head of States and Government therefore took the
following decisions
a. The Parliament: The Heads of State and Government ask all
political parties to endeavour to obtain the immediate resignation of all the
31 Members of Parliament whose election is contested. These resignation will
pave the way for by-elections. Pending
these by-elections, the Parliament will operate with the 116
remaining Members.
b. The Constitutional Court the Heads of State and
Government ask all the relevant Institutions to facilitate its immediate recomposition
according to legal provisions in Mali. The Parliament will propose its
representatives after the resignation of the 31 members whose election is
contested and the installation of the new bureau. In case of difficulty for the
various bodies in designating their members to the Constitutional Court, the
President of the Republic will use the exceptional power provided by Article 50
of the Constitution of Mali to nominate the 9 members.
C. The Executive Branch: A National Unity Government will be
established rapidly in line with the recommendations of the Mediator. The Heads
of States and Government encourage the
opposition, in particular, the M5-RFP, to participate in this National Unity
Government. The main task of this National Unity Government will be to deal
with the consequences of the demonstrations, and to implement all reforms and
recommendations issued from the Inclusive National Dialogue and to improve
governance. In particular the implementation of the Algiers Agreements will
need to be accelerated. Given the numerous challenges facing the country, Some
members of Government will be nominated before the National
Unity Government is formed. These are the ministries in charge of Defense,
Justice, Foreign Affairs, National Security and Finance.
d. Inquiries: the Heads of State and Government ask the
relevant authorities to conduct quickly those inquiries to determine and
identify those responsible for the violence that led to deaths and casualties
as well as public and private properties destruction on July 10th, 11th, and
12th 2020
Finally, the Heads of State and Government:
Reiterate their solidarity with the Honourable Soumaila
CISSE, Leader of the Opposition, abducted since March 25″ 2020. They insist on
the Malian Authorities to intensify efforts for his release.
Ask the ECOWAS Commission to put in place a Monitoring Committee
for the implementation of all the above measures. This Committee will include
representatives from Government, Parliament, the Judiciary, Civil Society,
M5-RFP, women, the youth, with the participation of the local Representative of
the African Union the Uritet YatishanEtaiet by ECOWAS.
Ask all stakholb to implement all the above decisions and
measures within 10 days. The ECOWAS Heads of State and Government request the
commission to consider sanctions against all those who act contrary to the
normalization process of the crisis.
Done by Video Conferencing on July 27th 2020
For the Summit
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