Malian vice president seeks to appoint prime minister

By Aurore Bonny

LOME, Togo ( AA) - Main transitional authority Assimi Goita met with political parties in Bamako, Mali on Friday to designate the next transitional officials.

Goita staged his second recent coup when he kidnapped the president and prime minister for three days beginning Monday following the appointment of a new government without the president’s consent.

Interim President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane resigned before being released on Thursday.

"In the coming days,” a prime minister will be appointed, Goita said Friday.

Ouane’s substitute "will have the task of carrying out a broad consultation between the different groups with a view to setting up a government of consensus and inclusiveness," Goita was quoted by local media. "We have no other choice, either we agree to work together by giving us the hand to save our country where we make clandestine wars or we will all fail”

Goita said his action is in the "best interest of the nation" and he had to “choose between disorder and cohesion within the defense and security forces" but also "between the stability of Mali and chaos.”

He chose cohesion of the defense and security forces and stability, he said.

The junta leader also expressed his wish to delegate the post of prime minister to the Movement of June 5 Rally of Patriotic Forces (M5-RFP) -- the group that participated in the overthrow of former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last August.

The rally responded by proposing Choguel Kokalla Maiga, former Minister of Industry and Trade.

African and international communities have threatened to sanction Mali because of its umpteenth coup. And a terror threat still exists in the country.