Pressure piles on Mali to stick to vote deadline

Bloomberg

The Economic Community of West African States threatened over the weekend to impose new sanctions on Mali to compel the country’s military leaders to set a timetable for February 27 elections that would restore democratic rule.
Ecowas, as the regional economic bloc is known, is considering “economic and financial sanctions” from January 1, according to a statement issued after a summit in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. The bloc “strongly deplores that the deadline for the holding of the elections is likely to not be
respected.”
The European Union also took steps that will allow it to ban travel and freeze the accounts of individuals or groups in Mali “stalling the implementation of the country’s political transition.”
“In addition, persons and entities in the EU will be forbidden from making funds available to those listed, either directly or indirectly,” the 27-nation bloc said in a statement.
International pressure is mounting against Malian authorities which recently signalled that elections may not be held as scheduled following a coup last year.