Malian junta sacks civilian PM and his government

RFI
·1-min read
Choguel Kokalla Maiga had been seen as isolated in his position as prime minister.

Mali's junta chief has sacked civilian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga and the government, days after Maiga issued a rare criticism of the military rulers.

The West African country, plagued by jihadist and separatist violence, has been led by the military since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021.

Maiga, who was appointed by the military after the second coup, had been seen as isolated in his position as prime minister, with little room for manoeuvre.

His dismissal on Wednesday creates further uncertainty in an already troubled context.

"The duties of the prime minister and the members of the government are terminated," according to a decree issued by Colonel Assimi Goita that was read out by the secretary general of the presidency, Alfousseyni Diawara, on state television ORTM.

Some key junta figures such as Defence Minister General Sadio Camara and Minister of Reconciliation General Ismael Wague are members of the government.

Australian mining company to pay Mali junta $160m for release of CEO

Elections promised

In June 2022, the junta promised to organise elections and hand over power to civilians by the end of March 2024, but later postponed elections indefinitely.

Maiga on Saturday publicly condemned the lack of clarity regarding the end of the transition to civilian rule.

He said the confusion could pose "serious challenges and the risk of going backwards".


Read more on RFI English

Read also:
French soldier killed in attack on military base in northern Mali
Mali summons French ambassador over Macron rebuke on Sahel crisis
Mali, Niger scramble for international aid to deal with dire flooding

Latest stories

  • After Zahid cracks open door, Khairy says never left Umno ‘in my heart’

    KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 — Former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said he did accept offers to join other political outfit...

  • Covid-struck Singapore PM thanks Anwar for care package with fruits and ‘real crab meat’

    SINGAPORE, Dec 6 — Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong thanked Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for a care package he sent af...

  • PM Anwar: RCI on Batu Puteh report reveals ‘treachery’ against Malaysia, shouldn’t be taken lightly

    PUTRAJAYA, Dec 6 — Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has reportedly labelled the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry...

  • Opinion - President Biden is leaving Trump a shocking mess to clean up

    The Biden years have planted land mines on many fronts for the incoming Trump team. Shamefully, rather than trying to repair the damage they’ve caused, they are racing to do more.

  • Mexico president will ask Trump to deport non-Mexican migrants directly to their home countries

    Mexico’s president said Thursday she will ask President-elect Donald Trump to deport non-Mexican migrants directly to their home countries, rather than dumping them at the Mexican border. President Claudia Sheinbaum said she hopes to reach an agreement with Trump so that “they send people who come from other countries to their countries of origin.” Mexico, like any other country, is not obligated to accept non-Mexican migrants, but it has agreed to do so in the recent past, especially from countries like Cuba and Venezuela, which often refuse deportation flights from the United States, but may accept them from Mexico.

  • Bill Clinton Says He Wishes Joe Biden Didn't Do This Thing Before Pardoning His Son

    Clinton said the president ultimately had "reason" to believe that his son could expect "far stronger, adverse consequences."

  • Assad’s family ‘flees’ to Russia – but Kremlin ‘won’t come’ to Syrian leader’s rescue

    Bashar al-Assad’s family fled to Russia in the days after rebel forces launched a shock offensive that captured swathes of territory across northern Syria, it has been revealed.

  • South Korea president apologises but doesn't resign over martial law fiasco

    South Korea's embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol apologised but stopped short of resigning Saturday over his declaration of martial law, as protesters gathered outside parliament ahead of a crucial impeachment vote that could decide his political fate.Hundreds of protesters began to gather outside the parliament building by lunchtime Saturday ahead of the vote, with organisers hoping 200,000 people would attend to pile pressure on lawmakers.

  • Meet Trump's pick for ambassador to China

    A business executive before he entered politics, former Georgia Senator David Perdue has lived in Singapore and Hong Kong.

  • HR Minister: Govt to offer additional tax deductions for firms adopting flexible work arrangements

    KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 — Human Resources Minister Steven Sim today announced that the government will provide additional ta...

  • El Salvador's president is triumphant after his bet on bitcoin comes true

    As bitcoin reached historic highs, surpassing $100,000 for the first tim e, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele was triumphant on Thursday about his big bet on the cryptocurrency. The adoption of bitcoin — which has been legal tender in the Central American nation since 2021 — never quite matched the president’s enthusiasm, but the value of the government’s reported investment now stands at more than $600 million. Bitcoin has rallied mightily since Donald Trump’s election victory last month, exceeding the $100,000 mark on Wednesday night, just hours after the president-elect said he intends to nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to be the next chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

  • Paraguay expels Chinese envoy over Taiwan 'interference'

    ASUNCION (Reuters) -Paraguay said on Thursday it had canceled a low-level Chinese diplomat's visa and ordered him to leave, after the envoy appeared to encourage lawmakers to reconsider Paraguay's friendly relationship with Taiwan. The foreign ministry accused Xu Wei of "interference in domestic affairs," while Taiwan's embassy said he had "infiltrated" Paraguay to undermine its relationship with Chinese-claimed Taiwan. In comments recorded in Paraguay's parliament and shared with Reuters, Xu urged Paraguay to recognize China over Taiwan.

  • Undercover Israeli forces raid West Bank hospital, seize alleged militant from ICU

    Israeli forces dressed in civilian clothes raided a hospital in the northern occupied West Bank on Wednesday night and detained an alleged Palestinian militant who had days earlier been injured in an Israeli airstrike that killed two Hamas militants.

  • China's ban on key high-tech materials could have broad impact on industries, economy

    China has banned exports of key materials used to make a wide range of products, including smartphones, electric vehicles, radar systems and CT scanners, swiping back at Washington after it expanded export controls to include dozens of Chinese companies that make equipment used to produce advanced computer chips. Both sides say their controls are justified by national security concerns and both accuse the other of “weaponizing” trade. Here’s why this could be a tipping point in trade conflict between the two biggest economies, coming at a time when antagonisms already were expected to heat up once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, given his vows to hike tariffs on imports of Chinese-made products. WHAT DID CHINA DO AND WHY?

  • Ahead of expected war games, Taiwan urges China to 'unclench its fists'

    TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te urged China on Friday to "unclench its fists" and not take any unilateral actions, saying ahead of expected Chinese war games around the island that Beijing would not win any respect for military drills. China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, is expected to launch another round of exercises in response to Lai's trip to the Pacific, which has included stopovers in Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam, according to security sources.

  • Secret Service Chief Screams at GOP Rep During Hearing on Trump Security

    Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe and Texas Rep. Pat Fallon had a contentious exchange Thursday during a congressional hearing about Donald Trump’s security detail. Since the July assassination attempt on Trump, that subject has been in the spotlight, with former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigning shortly after the close call. A Senate report released in September detailed “preventable” failures by the agency before the shooting. During a meeting Thursday of the bipartis

  • China and Russia plotting military stranglehold on Arctic, warns Pentagon

    China is working with Russia to increase its presence in the Arctic and could pose a threat to the US from the north, the Pentagon has warned.

  • The tiny island where China ‘is fast breeding nuclear weapons’

    Changbiao in the eastern China Sea was, until recently, an unremarkable and largely uninhabited island.

  • South Korean president resisting pressure to resign

    South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol faces impeachment, a treason investigation and pressure to resign after a failed martial law attempt. CNN’s Ivan Watson reports.

  • Mapped: The rebel-held areas of Syria

    The Syrian government currently controls the capital of Damascus and much of the county’s south east, as well as its Mediterranean coastline.