The headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) in Abuja. Picture: Ecowas/Abuja
Cape Town – The West Africa regional authority, The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) says it has noted the Malian authorities’ decision to an extended transition period to democratic rule to two years.
According to the authority, it said it regrets that while negotiations are still ongoing to reach a consensus, the Malian authorities took the decision on the transition period.
Ecowas says its mediator will continue to engage the Malian authorities on the transitional period in order to “find a mutually agreed timeline, that will allow full support from Ecowas”.
The 15-member regional bloc has been pushing for a shorter extension of 16 months at most.
In January, Ecowas had imposed hard economic sanctions after the military rulers said they would not organise democratic elections the following month as initially planned.
The Authority of Heads of State and Government of Ecowas convened an Extraordinary Session in Accra, Ghana, on June 4, under the chairmanship of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana and Chair of the Ecowas Authority.
The Extraordinary Summit was convened to review the recent political developments in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, since the last Extraordinary Summit, held on March 25 in Accra.
Mali's military junta will take 24 months from March 2022 to restore civilian rule after an August 2020 coup.
IOL