UN calls on Malian authorities to respect transition charter

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) - The UN Security Council reiterated its call for the authorities in Mali to achieve a political transition, UN representative Juan Ramon de la Fuente Ramirez said Thursday in a statement.

The Security Council also called for “the return to constitutional order and the handover of power to democratically elected civilian authorities within the agreed timeline set out in the Transition Charter and in accordance with these transitional authorities’ own commitments,” said the statement attributed to Ramirez, who is president of the Security Council for the month of November.

The message in which he made the statement summarized meetings held Oct. 23-25 in Mali and Niger between members of the Security Council and local authorities.

Malians have been in political transition since the coup d'état of Aug. 18, 2020. In October 2020, the country adopted a charter setting the transition period at 18 months, with elections scheduled for 2022.

Ramirez also reported that the council urged Malian authorities to "submit an electoral calendar" for "the organization of free and fair elections."

This is a requirement of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), of which Mali remains a member despite a recent rumor of its withdrawal.

"Mali will leave ECOWAS if necessary because we will not let anyone sabotage our transition," said a statement attributed to Abdoulaye Diop, Mali's minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation.

But the government denied this on Thursday, saying he "never made that comment."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the Malian transition’s leaders’ "availability to maintain dialogue" and to work with the West African bloc "for the transition's success."

The UN Security Council called on both entities to maintain this position.

The members also called for the continuation of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali signed between the Malian government and the country's former rebels in 2015, according to the Council president.

He said they also appreciated commitments made by the transitional authorities to advance the agreement's implementation and reiterated the importance of ensuring the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in all the agreement's mechanisms.