The sub-regional leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Monday insisted that President Ibrahim Keita of Mali will not step aside as being demanded by members of the opposition in that country.
Keita has so far spent two out of the five years second term in office.
But a resistance group, M5, is insisting that the Constitutional Court must be dissolved, and Keita must resign, before peace can return to the country.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, who spoke to State House correspondents on the resolutions of the leaders at the end of the ECOWAS virtual meeting, however, said the meeting endorsed a government of national unity.
He disclosed that the meeting also endorsed the cancellation of the 31 disputed parliamentary seats and fresh elections should be conducted.
“The resolutions of the meeting of the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS stressed the importance of the need to respect the institutions of the republic especially the constitutional means of acceding to power in conformity to with the ECOWAS protocol, democracy and good governance.
“This is important because the opposition was making a demand for the resignation of the president and the ECOWAS position is `that is a no go area’, and that no head of state shall be removed other than through constitutional means.
“It has also resolved that the parliament, because if you remember the crisis actually started from the elections of March this year which gave rise to a lot of crises in the country because of 31 disputed seats
“Therefore, the meeting has resolved that these 31 seats that are in contention these members be asked to resign to make rooms for a fresh election into these 31 seats that are contention,’’ he said.
Dada added that the leaders asked all political parties to endeavour to obtain the immediate resignation of all the 31 Members of Parliament whose election is contested.
According to him, these resignations will pave the way for by-elections
“Pending these by-elections, the Parliament will operate with the 116 remaining members,’’ he said.
He stated that the Heads of State and Government asked all the relevant Institutions to facilitate the immediate re-composition of the Constitutional Court in accordance with the legal provisions in Mali.
“In case of difficulty for the various bodies in designating their members to the Constitutional Court, the President of the Republic will use the exceptional power provided by Article 50 of the Constitution of Mali to nominate the nine members,’’ he said.
According to him, the sub-regional leaders also endorsed the immediate establishment of National Unity Government in line with the recommendations of the Mediator.
He said the Heads of States and Government encouraged the opposition, in particular, the M5-RFP, to participate in this National Unity Government.
“The main task of this National Unity Government will be to deal with the consequences of the demonstrations, and to implement all reforms and recommendations issued from the Inclusive National Dialogue and to improve governance.
“In particular the implementation of the Algiers Agreements will need to be accelerated.
“Given the numerous challenges facing the country, some members of government will be nominated before the National Unity Government is formed.
“These are the ministers in charge of Defense, Justice, Foreign Affairs, National Security and Finance,’’ he said.
The leaders, according to the minister, asked the relevant authorities to conduct quickly those inquiries to determine and identify those responsible for the violence that led to deaths and casualties as well as public and private properties destruction between July 10 and 12.
He said the leaders also reiterated their solidarity with the Soumaila CISSE, leader of the opposition, abducted since March 25, and insisted that the Malian authorities must intensify efforts for his release.
The ECOWAS leaders urged the ECOWAS Commission to put in place a Monitoring Committee for the implementation of all the above measures, and to consider sanctions against all those who act contrary to the normalization process of the crisis.
“This Committee will include representatives from Government, Parliament, the Judiciary, Civil Society, M5-RFP, women, the youth, with the participation of the local Representative of the African Union the Uritet YatishanEtaiet by ECOWAS.
The sub-regional leaders challenged all stakeholders to implement all the above decisions and measures within ten days.
President Buhari participated actively in the extra-ordinary virtual session of the ECOWAS leaders meant to mitigate the political crisis in Mali.
