Mali court appoints Assimi Goita as interim president
Coup leader’s appointment raises the stakes as West African leaders prepare to respond to the coup in Mali.
Last August, the young colonel led a coup that deposed Mali’s elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita amid protests against perceived corruption and the government’s failure to quell armed groups. But faced with the threat of regional sanctions, Goita and other coup leaders agreed to hand over power to a transitional government that would steer the country back to civilian rule.
The colonel was then appointed vice president of the interim government and his fellow soldiers were given key cabinet posts.
At the time, mediators from the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) insisted that Mali’s transition, which is due to end with elections in February, remain civilian-led. The bloc stipulated in a joint declaration that the vice president of the transition “cannot under any circumstances replace the president”.
ECOWAS heads of state are due to meet in Ghana on Sunday.
Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque, reporting from Mali’s capital, Bamako, said Goita’s appointment as interim president was a “long time coming”.
Ndaw’s detention on Monday lifted any illusions of a civilian-led transition, said Haque, while the constitutional court’s ruling made clear that “the real strongman of Mali is Assimi Goita”.
