Mali: National Consultations On Going

Mali’s military junta on Saturday, December 11, 2021 launched two days of National Consultations. The talks are supposed to lead to the fixing of a date for the holding elections, which is a major step towards a return to civilian government in Mali. The consultation presented by the authorities as a crucial moment in the transition will culminate with the holding from December 27 to 30, 2021 of a National Forum during which recommendations for reforms expected to remedy the ills of the country caught in the turmoil since independence and jihadist insurgencies in 2012, will be addressed.

Though there has been a general mobilization by major stakeholders to make the National Forum a success, the different aimed groups have voiced their discontent. According to a statement from the Permanent Strategic Framework (CSP), the “unilateral organization” of consultations by the government excluding the signatory movements of the Algiers agreement, a structure bringing together the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA, ex- rebels), the Platform of Movements of June 14, 2014 in Algiers (commonly known as the Platform, Loyalists) and the Coordination of Inclusiveness Movements (CMI) also formed by ex-rebels is an erroneous strategy to bring long lasting peace in the country.

It should be noted that, the National Consultations comes a day before the opening of the 60th Ordinary Summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in Lagos (Nigeria). The ECOWAS, which suspended Mali from its decision-making bodies and imposed in...