US calls for ‘finalized timetable’ for Mali elections

The United States on Tuesday called on Mali to set election dates, urging it at a United Nations Security Council meeting to move forward amid concerns over slow reforms.

Army officers ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on August 18, 2020 after weeks of protests fueled by frustrations over perceived corruption and a seemingly endless jihadist insurgency.

But they then handed power over to an interim civilian government – which is supposed to rule for 18 months before elections are held – under threat of international sanctions.

No exact date has yet been announced.

“We strongly encourage the Malian authorities to publish a final calendar confirming the dates of the electoral process and to make full use of the electoral support capacities of the Minusma,” said US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in reference to the peacekeeping mission deployed in the country since 2013.

“We must ensure that free and fair elections take place on time,” she said during a Security Council video conference devoted to the situation in Mali.

“The top priority must be the organization and holding of free and fair elections by the end of the transition period,” said the American diplomat.

“These must be administered by competent and impartial electoral authorities to publish a final timetable confirming the dates of the electoral process.”

UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said: “I encourage Malian political actors to work in a spirit of compromise and to enact reforms aimed at creating an environment conducive to peaceful, inclusive, transparent and credible elections “.

“These elections represent the litmus test for the current transition and a necessary step towards Mali’s return to constitutional rule,” Lacroix said, warning of the deteriorating security situation in the northern and central regions of the country.

Representatives from other countries also commented, with the French also encouraging the punctuality of the elections and the Niger calling for the strengthening of the Minusma.

And UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres commented in a recent letter to the body obtained by AFP, in which he said it would be “premature” to speak of a withdrawal from Minusma itself. after elections.

“The conditions for a gradual, coordinated and deliberate transition of the Mission’s security responsibilities without compromising the stability of Mali and the region will not be in place at the end of the political transition,” he said.