By Aurore Bonny
LOME, Togo (AA) – Assimi Goita, the military vice president of the Malian transition, "has seen himself in the obligation to act" by placing "outside their prerogatives the president and his prime minister," said Commander Babab Cisse, his special adviser in a statement read on national television.
While international organizations condemn the detention of the head of state and government and some transitional authorities on May 24 by "a coup de force" by the military, Goita came out of his reserve to explain himself.
He said he had placed these authorities "outside their prerogatives to preserve the transition charter and defend the republic."
The military officer who is part of the junta that carried out the coup in 2020 finds that Moctar Ouane, the prime minister, "has shown himself incapable of constituting a reliable interlocutor susceptible of mobilizing the confidence of the social partners in a unilateral manner." His main argument lies in "the strikes and demonstrations of various social, political actors," he noted.
In his message read by his adviser Cisse, Goita also criticized the appointment of a new government, which for him was "a general consternation marked by the persistence of the strikes of the National Union of Workers of Mali, the outcome of which is finally a state of unlimited strike."
"This state of affairs constitutes a serious threat to the Malian economy and guarantees instability with immeasurable consequences," he said.
Goita also accused President Bah N'daw and Ouane of acting without consulting him, specifically in the recent appointment of the new government, even though the transitional charter gives him the defense and security portfolio.
"Such a move shows a clear willingness by the president and the prime minister to move towards a violation of this charter contrary to the oath taken at his inauguration on 25 September 2020. Hence a proven intention to sabotage the transition," Cisse said, quoting the vice president.
Despite everything, he invited the population to go freely about their business and assured them that the transition process is following its normal course and that the elections scheduled for 2022 will be held.
