The African Union's long-awaited response to the military coup in Mali
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On June 1, 2021, the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) announced the suspension of Mali from the AU's activities, organs, and institutions following a military coup d’état orchestrated by Malian Colonel Assimi Goita on May 24, 2021. The PSC revealed the decision in an official statement published on the evening of June 1, 2021.
For a long time, the political situation in Mali has been unstable. Since the coup in August 2020, Mali has been undergoing an eighteen-month-long transition period from military to civilian rule, with the next democratic elections scheduled on February 27, 2022. In September 2020, Mr. Bah N'Daw and Mr. Moctar Ouane were appointed as the interim President and Prime Minister, respectively, tasked with leading the transitional government. However, within less than a year, on May 24, 2021, Mali's leading political figures, including the interim President of Mali, Mr. Bah N'Daw, Prime Minister of Mali, Mr. Moctar Ouane, and the Defense Minister of Mali, Mr. Souleymane Doucouré, were arrested by the Malian military and taken into custody. The Constitutional Court of Mali appointed Colonel Assimi Goita as the new interim President on May 28, 2021.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional economic and political union consisting of fifteen West African countries of which Mali was part of, suspended Mali from its institutions on May 30, 2021, the first intergovernmental organization to do so.
The AU followed two days later, calling for Mali to reinstate the civilian-led transitional government and normal constitutional order, lift restrictions on the detained political actors, and further urging the Malian military to refrain from interference in the Country's political matters. In case of non-compliance, sanctions and punitive measures would follow.
For more information, please see https://www.dw.com/en/african-
