Available! Finally free! Soumaïla Cissé, Sophie Pétronin and the other hostages are reunited with their families. Also the senior figures from the IBK regime who were arrested during the coup regain freedom while the Malays regain a government and Mali, its rights and powers within ECOWAS. Can we therefore consider that everything is in order and that this country can now resume a normal life?
No alas! No! But before we return to the problems and challenges facing the transitional government, a few words about the hostages. Sophie Pétronin is, if we dare say so, a classic hostage. Mature in the Sahel, which until then consisted of kidnapping Westerners in hopes of paying dearly for their release. On the other hand, it was unusual boldness to take the most prominent politician in Mali hostage after the head of state. And it is probably above all him that the jihadists would trade him for so many of theirs. And that’s hardly surprising.
Why ?
Because this discreet, polite man was a real balance in Mali’s political life. Although he had to be removed so that the public could realize what a unique man he is. Patient, moderate, deeply democratic and legalistic. Looking back, even the former IBK president must have complained about his absence. Because, if he had been there, never an imam, as respectable as he, could have turned into an opposition leader to unite all dissatisfied and shorten the current head of state’s mandate. Certainly the army slipped into the game as a third thief, but it was Imam Dicko who spearheaded a most heterogeneous movement that created the conditions for the coup. . Given their electoral weight, many of the members of this movement could not hope to be guests at the party of power except through a transition created by the street. They are therefore all the more frustrated at having been deprived of their share of the booty. And their frustrations could soon give rise to the worst traps and even thwart the government of Moctar Ouane.
However, they announced that the most important thing for them was to go to the polls …
Yes. In politics, there are the good dispositions and the fair play that we publicly proclaim to save the appearance of dignity so that the anger that we have behind the scenes should hurt. Moreover, in recent weeks, the Malians have been able to appreciate the extent to which some of those who fought to get IBK to leave were more motivated by the part they could take in a transitional government than by the “new Mali “. which everyone has in their mouths. They were so predictable that when asked to come up with a few names for the position of Prime Minister, they made a list of fourteen names! You imagine! …
Now that the government has been formed, their complaints are more and more audible and full of insinuations. In addition, there is uncertainty about the loyalty of ministers. Will it go to the interests that have led each to his position, or to the government, the prime minister and the nation? The answer to this question will depend on the fate of the Mali ship: it will reach its destination in the interest of all, or will very quickly become ungovernable. The people were to return to the streets tomorrow to interrupt the current president’s term. As if the Malian political class could not support a head of state beyond half a mandate …
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