Mali’s President and Prime Minister were expelled by the officer who led the coup last year and became the provisional government’s vice-president.
President Bah Ndaw and PM Moctar Ouane have failed in their responsibilities and sought to sabotage the country’s transition, according to Col Assimi Goïta.
They were detained hours after a government rehabilitation that saw the replacement of two senior army officers.
Col Goïta says elections will continue as expected next year.
But he refused pleas from the UN Leader, the African Union, the Western African Economic Community (Ecowas), the European Union, and the US to release the President and Prime Minister without preconditions.
Both men were held outside the capital city of Bamako in a military camp after they were arrested on Monday night.
What led to the crisis?
Col Goïta says the rehabilitation of cabinet in which he says he ought to have been named vice-president was not consulted.
Following the coup last year, the junta leader had tried to head the provisional government monitoring an 18-month civil rule transition. But Ecowas, the regional agency that negotiated the transitional agreement, insisted on a civil leader.
However, Col Goïta remains the real power broker in the troubled nation of West Africa.
He generally celebrated his expulsion of Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta as President last year. Weeks of anti-government demonstrations over increased insecurity perceived corruption, and a failed economy followed.
But the sluggish speed of transition has caused tensions over the last nine months. In its second week, an ongoing strike by the largest union threatens to paralyze the economy.
In the face of these problems and the possibility of renewed protests, the Transitional Government decided to name a wider cabinet.
Col Goïta is not the only one who is dismayed by the rehabilitation – the opposition party behind last year’s demonstrations, M5 RFP, was dismayed that no ministerial positions were awarded.
Next, what happens?
In Bamako, a delegation from Ecowas is scheduled. Last year, Ecowas threatened sanctions without a civilian-led caretaker government taking over the military.
Now that Col Goïta has essentially torn this arrangement by taking over, the impact is unclear.
However, France, the former colonial force, threatened EU sanctions against the perpetrators, with President Emmanuel Macron calling it a “coup in one coup,” reports Reuters news agency.
Col Goïta has asked people to do their business as usual, and the military promises to enter into a transitional agreement.
A leading member of the M5 RFP party, who criticized the prime minister, says he was asked to run for the next prime minister.
Soya Djigue told the BBC’s radio program Focus on Africa that the expulsion of the interim leaders was unavoidable after it had not consulted the military on government reform and could not resolve the ongoing strike.
Because of the rising frustration, until recently, M5 RFP threatened to get back onto the streets in early June.
Why is Mali so volatile?
Reforms are difficult to implement rapidly – and the vast landlocked nation is poor and large areas are underdeveloped.
A previous coup in 2012 led radical Islamists to exploit the chaos and seize the country’s north.
French troops helped to recover territory but continued attacks as rebels capitalized on the region’s ongoing political turmoil.
All of this has contributed to diminishing public trust in military leadership’s ability to handle the Islamic rebellion in neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
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