West African nations on Friday urged Mali’s military junta to take no more than one year to hand over power to a civilian government, as regional leaders held a virtual summit after initial negotiations with the military coup leaders failed.
The junta, calling itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, has met one of the regional bloc’s demands by releasing former Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on Thursday, more than a week after his resignation that followed the coup.
However, the junta said it might wait until 2023 to hold elections, a proposal immediately rejected by the 15 members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who participated in the summit, urged the junta to heed the bloc’s calls.
“The people of Mali and the military leaders need to appreciate the fragility of their country and the imminent danger which it poses to the citizens of Mali as well as the ECOWAS sub-region,” he said in a statement.
After a similar coup in Mali in 2012, democratic elections took place within 18 months.
ECOWAS has suspended Mali’s membership and halted financial flows to the country. Neighboring countries have shut their borders, and other sanctions have been threatened to force the junta leaders to capitulate.
The regional group immediately after the coup suggested mobilizing a standby military force to restore civilian rule, a proposal now far less likely after thousands of Malians took to the streets to support the ouster of the elected president.
African countries and others have expressed fear that Mali’s upheaval could allow regional militant groups to extend their reach, undermining seven years of international efforts to stabilize the country following a 2013 French-led military operation in northern Mali.
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