(25 May 2021) Residents of Bamako, activists and members of political parties reacted on Tuesday to the military announcement on national TV that Mali’s former coup leader Assimi Goita took control of the West African country again after firing the president and prime minister of the transitional government.
"At the beginning we were calling for the release of these people but now, it's obviously a coup d'état, so it has become for us a fight to save Malian democracy," said Adam Dicko, activist and executive director of the Youth Association for Active Citizenship and Democracy (AJCAD).
While Goita pledged to go ahead with holding new elections in 2022 as previously promised, his display of force casts doubt on whether the vote will go ahead without significant interference by the junta that overthrew the last democratically elected president last August.
The move also raised concerns that the new political unrest could further destabilize efforts to control Mali's long-running Islamic insurgency.
"It is a feeling of uncertainty, of incomprehension, a feeling that we are living an eternal restart," said Alain Fleuriaye, a cultural producer and resident of Bamako.
"When someone is not satisfied and has the force (power) of the arms, (he) uses it to show his dissatisfaction and to show that he has the strength. We have to get out of this infernal circle" he said.
The United Nations now spends some $1.2 billion annually on a peacekeeping mission in Mali and France's military has spent eight years trying to stabilize its former colony amid the ongoing threat.
The military's announcement on the state broadcaster on Tuesday came a day after President Bah N'Daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane were arrested by soldiers and brought to the military headquarters in Kati, about 15 kilometres (9 miles) outside the capital.
Both men remained in detention on Tuesday and there was no immediate word about their conditions.
Their arrests prompted an outcry by the international community, which put out a strongly worded statement warning Mali's military leaders that their actions could undermine global support for the country.
That joint statement made by the African Union, United Nations, the E.U., France and the U.S. among others called for the immediate release of the president and prime minister.
The West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS, which also endorsed the statement, said on Tuesday afternoon that it was sending a delegation to Bamako as the political crisis escalated.
The regional body previously threatened the junta with sanctions if it did not install a civilian president and prime minister, and shorten the transitional period to 18 months.
The EU went a step further, warning Mali's military Tuesday that it was "ready to consider targeted measures against political and military leaders who obstruct the Malian transition."
The new government announced on Monday had left out two men who were prominent junta members: Interior Security Minister Modibo Kone and Defence Minister Sadio Camara.
About an hour after the new Cabinet was named, the military rounded up the president and prime minister.
Goita, who led the junta calling itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, has served as Mali's vice president in the transitional government formed last September.
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