Mali : President Ibrahim Keita To Meet Opposition Leaders

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has extended a hand of dialogue to his fellow political opponents. President Boubacar made the statement on Sunday, June 14, 2020 during a nationwide address in the capital Bamako, “My door is open and my hand always extended,” Keita said on public television. “I look forward to meeting soon with the actors of the opposition movement,” added the Malian leader, who has been in power since 2013.
His address comes after several weeks of protests organized by leaders of the coalition opposition party demanding his resignation.  The coalition movement led by religious hardliner, Imam Mahmoud Dicko and Cheick Oumar Sissoko (a former culture minister), recently organized an imposing rally in Bamako, and is announcing another rally for next Friday. Much like responding to Imam Mahmoud Dicko, leader of the protest movement who asks him to listen to the people, the Malian president began his address to the nation by saying, "I have followed closely the recent events that have taken place in our country. I heard the angers and the cries, I heard the demands and the arrests. "
He re-emphasized his willingness to meet with the parties and associations members of the June 5 movement who demanded his resignation. "My role is to anticipate patterns of violent confrontation that will not make anyone happy. This is why I invite you to dialogue and I look forward to meeting the actors of the so-called June 5 movement soon. Because nothing can be above Mali”. He added...