Mali’s constitutional court appointed the leader of the junta after the coup Colonel Assimi Goita as the country’s interim president on Friday.
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The ruling provided that Goita would “exercise the functions of interim president to lead the transition process to its conclusion”, following his takeover this week.
The Constitutional Court said it had made the decision because of the “vacancy in the presidency” after the departure of caretaker President Bah Ndaw.
Soldiers arrested Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane on Monday before releasing them on Thursday after they left.
But the twin arrests triggered a diplomatic uprising – and marked the second obvious coup within a year in the unstable country.
Ndaw and Ouane had led a transitional government tasked with directing the return to civilian rule after a coup in August last year that overthrew Mali’s elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
Keita was forced out by young army officers, led by Goita, after mass protests over perceived corruption and his failure to quell a bloody uprising.
Goita had originally been appointed vice president with other important posts given to other army officers.
‘We chose cohesion’
Earlier on Friday, Goita declared that the army had no choice but to intervene.
“We had to choose between disorder and cohesion within the defense and security forces and we chose cohesion,” he said.
He added that a new prime minister will be appointed within days, in his first comments since taking office this week.
According to a journalist from the Agence France-Presse (AFP), the army officer announced during a meeting with political and civil society figures in Bamako, when international pressure increases on the country’s ruling military administration.
“In the coming days, the Prime Minister who will be appointed will hold a broad consultation between the various factions,” Goita said.
He asked those who attended the meeting to support his preference for a prime minister from the opposition M5 movement, a once powerful group that the military exhibited after the coup in August.
“Either we agree to join hands to save our country, or we will wage secret wars and we will all fail,” Goita said.
The meeting of Christ
The transitional government – installed under the threat of regional sanctions – had the stated goal of restoring full civilian rule within 18 months.
Ndaw and Ouane’s detention came hours after a change of government that would have replaced the defense and security ministers, both army officers who had taken part in the August coup.
The political unrest in Mali has worried the country’s neighbors, who have led efforts to end the crisis.
Diplomats told AFP on Friday that the economic community in West African states would discuss the situation in Ghana’s capital Accra on Sunday.
The 15-nation bloc has also warned against reintroducing sanctions against the country, as have the United States and former colonial masters France.
There are still fears that the sanctions will destabilize the poor nation of 19 million people, who have been fighting a brutal uprising since 2012.
Hundreds of painters gathered in Bamako during the day to express their support for the colonel, many of whom expressed hostility to France and demanded stronger ties with Russia.
Russia’s foreign ministry, for its part, praised the release of Ndaw and Ouane but pressured Mali to eventually hold “democratic elections”.
‘Come together’
Goita wants to appoint an M5 member as prime minister, in a move that some say could ease the pressure on the military.
M5 led protests against Keita 2020 but was excluded from key posts in the army-dominated post-coup administration.
An approximation to the group can serve to mitigate domestic and foreign criticism of the military.
The International Crisis Group has said that an M5 prime minister could allay international concerns.
The M5 itself seems willing to work with the army.
The group’s spokeswoman, Jeamille Bittar, told a news conference on Friday that M5 would present one of its cadres, Choguel Maiga, as prime minister.
“We must all gather around the new government,” he said.
In Bamako, there has been almost no opposition to the military’s latest power play. Most people are tired of their role in politics.
Some have even welcomed it. Hundreds of people gathered in support of the army in a central square of the city on Friday, for example with many overall portraits of Goita.
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