The case of Mali exemplifies the risks and challenges posed by the integration of armed groups in the Sahel. A country of 19 million inhabitants, caught in a whirlwind of jihadist and inter-community violence that has left thousands of deaths and hundreds of displaced people and with a transition process totally unauthorized by the military uprising of the coup leaders, disconnected with the new Government. They deposed the transitional president, Bah Ndaw, and Prime Minister Moctar Ouané last week. Mali’s strongman, Colonel Assimi Goïta, assumed power later endorsed by the Constitutional Court as the new president of the Republic. Thus, in its endeavor to legalize the new authorities, the Court relies on the resignation presented by Ndaw, for reasons of a power vacuum that needed to be filled immediately, and according to the laws of the Transitional Charter in force in Mali in this transitional period, the person empowered to replace a president is, in the first place, his vice president, in this case Colonel Assimi Goïta. This measure pits them against the members of ECOWAS. In an extraordinary regional summit, the Community of West African States (ECOWAS) welcomed the procedure of its designation suspending Mali from its common institutions and called on Mali to respect its commitment to a transition that must end in February 2022, with a presidential election to hand over power to civilians and integrate representatives of different political parties and civil society.The organization’s countries had ordered the closure of land borders with Mali after last year’s coup, which caused a 30% drop in the country’s imports, before sanctions were lifted in October. It is the institution that has piloted the transition process from outside Mali in recent months, in concert with the coup plotters, but with the new military uprising it has been totally disallowed. While West African heads of state meet in Ghana to debate Recent political events in Mali, Emmanuel Macron raises the tone of the new power in Bamako. In an interview with the Journal du dimanche (JDD), the President of the Republic affirms that France will withdraw its troops if Mali goes “in the direction” of radical Islamism, after a second coup in the country in nine months. Mediation efforts fail, “we will adopt sanctions against all those who impede the development of the transition process,” warned French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. The United States has also announced the suspension of its aid to Malian forces and intends to “study specific measures” against disruptors of the transition. A pressure that, for the moment, has not had any effect on the coup plotters. Such events have rekindled the debate on the logic of continuing in Mali. France, with about 5.100 soldiers in Operation Barkhane, which ensure regional “stability” and the safety of Niger’s uranium mines, important to French industry, have been supporting Mali, which since 2012 has faced a jihadist push from the north that it has plunged the country into a security crisis before spreading to the center of the country. But Paris, like the EU, have denounced an “unacceptable coup”. Politically, the Barkhane operation may influence the future of the Elysee, especially in terms of its impact on improving the security of France and the debate on the usefulness of the mission for some navies involved in many theaters of foreign operations and in citizen security, which represents a considerable cost of the national defense budget.Despite this operation, the mission has not succeeded in eradicating the plague of terrorism in the Currently, the terrorist groups are dispersed in the Sahara desert and divided into various factions that combine fighting against international missions and each other, hindering the stability of the Sahel. Over the years, the French operation has run into a socio-political reality that makes their presence difficult in the eyes of local societies. The French presence legitimizes corrupt institutions and the abuse of power by state structures. The protests against Barkhane by the Malian people, which later led to the anti-government revolts that culminated in the coup in August last year, exemplify this malaise.The future of Barkhane is complicated, the military losses and the fatigue of the public opinion with the conflict are increasing, something that may influence the political scenario of the future, with a presidential election in 2022 as the main event. It remains to be seen how the The new president and the procedure for his appointment will be welcomed by the Malian people, but above all by the Community of West African States, in the face of the growing political and social protest of a country plunged into a deep crisis for years and under pressure. of the international community.
