Mali suspended from West African regional bloc over coup

Bloomberg

West African leaders suspended Mali from a regional bloc after military officers wrested control of the country’s government, the second coup in the West African country in nine months.
The suspension will remain in force until the nation returns to constitutional rule, Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Shirley Ayorkor Botchway told reporters in the capital, Accra, following an emergency meeting on Mali’s latest political crisis.
Mali’s coup leaders are under pressure from regional authorities and Western partners to restore civilian rule.
The Economic Community of West African States, headed by Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, urged the transition government, currently led by coup leader Colonel Assimi Goita, to appoint a civilian prime minister within days.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in an interview with French magazine Le Journal du Dimanche, threatened to withdraw his country’s support from Mali if “there’s no longer democratic legitimacy or transition.” The former colonial power has a 5,100-strong counter terrorism force to battle insurgents in Mali and across West Africa’s Sahel region.
The 15-member regional bloc has insisted Mali’s transition, which is supposed to end with new polls in February, is led by a civilian. Goita, who led the second military takeover, has said elections scheduled for 2022 will go ahead as planned. Earlier this week, France threatened sanctions against anyone who delayed Mali’s return to civilian rule.
“ECOWAS has decided to work with Mali so that they do not derail from the transition towards a democratically elected government by February 2022,” Botchway said. “The West African leaders are appealing to all the international community to continue to engage Mali and assist them on the path.”
Goita met with West African leaders after being named interim president by Mali’s top court. The 38-year-old military officer, who had also spearheaded Mali’s first coup in August, ordered the arrest of Interim President Bah N’Daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane hours after a cabinet reshuffle on May 24 replaced two key junta members — the head of defense and security.
N’Daw and Ouane, who were supposed to oversee the transition, resigned on Wednesday while in military custody. They were later released.