Prime Minister
Cheick Modibo Diarra
On
March 21, a group of soldiers and Captain Sanogo seized power in a coup in
Mali. Sanogo promised to crush the rebel separates in the north but failed and
lost control of northern Mali. Sanogo did hand over power to the civilian
government shortly after the coup. Cheick Modibo Diarra has been the Prime
Minister in Mali since April when the army handed power back to civilians. He
just resigned along with his entire government. The Prime Minister resigned
with a short speech after he was arrested by several military soldiers linked
to the March coup. In his speech Diarra did not mention any reason for
resigning.
Spokesmen for the group of soldiers
who seized power in March say this is not another coup. Diarra was arrested as
he tried leaving Mali for France. The spokesmen said the Prime Minister was
arrested for “inciting trouble”. Witnesses of the arrest say the Prime Minister
“was arrested by about 20 soldiers late on Monday” who “smashed in the door of
the prime minister’s residence and took him away a bit violently”. For a while
now, tensions have been mounting between Diarra and the soldiers who led Mali’s
coup in March. Diarra has organized demonstrations calling for UN resolution to
plan military intervention in northern Mali.
Crisis is erupting in Mali. The
president needs to appoint a new prime minister as soon as possible. The
civilian government and the Malian army have had continuing conflict over how
to deal with the Tuareg rebels (with Al-Qaeda ties) in the north. The military
has made it very clear that they do not want foreign boots on the ground. They
are not opposed to tactical and financial support but they are also concerned
with their sovereignty and stability in their country.
Mali has a multidimensional
problem. First, there are outside pressures after the military coup for the
military to give back power to civilian government. The Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) threats to impose sanctions on Mali’s military rulers.
Second, the Tuareg controls most of the north, which is one third of the population. There are many questions what could happen to Mali. Can the coup
leaders fulfill their promise to hand the country back to civilians? What will
that mean for the rebellion in the north? And what does it all mean for the
people of Mali?
article: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/12/201212114415249884.html
article: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/12/201212114415249884.html
I was listening to the BBC World Service on my way home tonight and they announced Cheick Modibo Diarra's Successor: Django Sissoko.
ReplyDeleteWhile many expressed shock at the military's forcing Mali's PM's Resignation (though Capt. Sanogo denies this) they also expressed hope with Sissoko. According to the BBC Sissoko has a reputation of moderating issues and has many diverse and strong ties within the country and hoped this would mean good things for the "Official Transitioning of the Government". Hopefully this is more than optimistic thinking.
Furthermore they detailed the lack of senior military officials roles within the military and the coup as a mere captain has been calling all the shots and the signals that this gave for a more divided military.
Not much personal input here but thought an update could help!
As for my part I hope Sissoko is as competent as the BBC seems to hope and that this unrest can turn this set back into a success, but considering the military's surprise assertion of power, the road back to truly democratic Mali will be much harder than one good appointment.
This was a very nice update! I also hope that Sissoko can help Mali like the BBC seems to think he can. The military definitely has huge control within the country and I am curious how their power is going to play out with a new government in place and a large chance that the UN, international community, and other African countries will send troops into the country to combat the rebels in the north.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking generally, it's sad and discouraging to see the situation that Mali currently finds itself in considering that it was once a beacon of democracy and stability in a continent which is short on both.
ReplyDeleteMy blog post from yesterday building on your article and post because right after Diarra was kicked out of office and arrested they searched and found and new prime minister. They chose a prime minister who was just a civilian because the possibility of him being corrupt or deviant already is low and he has not much previous connection to other already instated officials so he seems a safe choice. I think getting rid of and detaining Mali's old prime minister and getting a new one from a different pool of people is a step in the right direction for Mali in fixing its government and regaining democracy which will help squash the extremists in the north of the country.
ReplyDelete