Mali’s Transitional Council : CMAS On The Starting Block

After several weeks of speculations, the Coordination of Movements, Associations and Sympathizers (CMAS), have made known their Movement’s position with regards to their participation in the National Transitional Council (CNT). Speaking in Bamako yesterday, November 25, 2020, Mahmoud Dicko, head of one of the Movements that led a popular revolt for months against former President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said, the CMAS Movement will be part of the National Transitional Council (CNT). The announcement comes a few days after some members of Mali’s political class and civil society criticized the unfair allocation of seats in the future National Transitional Council (CNT).
Though it is yet to fully take shape, the National Transitional Council (CNT) is already provoking the ire and distrust of many political parties and civil society groups. Its critics alleged that the military has carved out for itself the lion’s share of the council’s 121 seats, taking 22 of them. The legislative body’s method for allocating seats, one-third of whose members may, together with the president of the transition, initiate the revision of the transition charter was set by two decrees dated Monday, 9 November 2020. The first decree, published in the Government Gazette of the Republic of Mali, defines the transitional body’s membership criteria and specifies that the vice president of the transition, Assimi Goïta, is responsible for determining the final list of members “after reviewing applications”. The secon...