“The relative ease with which the coup leaders \u2014 many of them trained as soldiers by US, Russian, and other international militaries \u2014 dismantled the government has experts wondering if the operation was long planned, and if the lack of fighting between military units suggested widespread coordination among Mali\u2019s forces.\u201cThis appears to have been organized and thought through,\u201d said Andrew Lebovich, an expert on West African security issues at the European Council on Foreign Relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far, it seems the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, as the military junta calls itself, has no desire to actually run the country. Instead, the committee, which is made up of a mix of colonels and generals, says it will provide transitional leadership until new elections can be held \u2014 though it\u2019s unclear when they might take place.”
…
“Despite the surprise nature of the military takeover, though, few experts were surprised a coup proved Ke\u00efta\u2019s downfall. Not only does the country have a long history of them, but it has suffered from terrorist, militia, and criminal violence throughout Ke\u00efta\u2019s presidency.
Add to that years of unabashed government corruption plus a spring parliamentary election many believe was skewed to favor Ke\u00efta\u2019s political party, and it gave the military an opening to remove the president amid clear popular dissatisfaction.
Wagu\u00e9, the junta spokesperson, hit on those dire themes in his statement: \u201cOur country is sinking into chaos, anarchy, and insecurity mostly due to the fault of the people who are in charge of its destiny.\u201d
It\u2019s that widespread sentiment, ultimately, that has many in Mali pleased to see the former leader removed from power. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a coup against Ke\u00efta, but a coup against a system that wasn\u2019t working,\u201d Judd Devermont, the US\u2019s national intelligence officer for Africa from 2015 to 2018, told me.”
…
“IBK dragged his feet on reforming the economy and instituting anti-corruption reforms, and the people had enough of it. \u201cWe are tired and oppressed. Our children are also tired, no school nor enough food to feed our families,\u201d Fotoumata Bathily, a Malian protester, told Voice of America last month. \u201cWhat we need is Ibrahim Boubacar to leave so the country could prosper.\u201d”
…
“That wasn\u2019t all. In 2012, just a year before Ke\u00efta became president, armed fighters and jihadists took control of northern Mali. Their influence and the violence that takeover instigated has since metastasized to the central part of the country. This is despite years of military campaigns by Malian forces and French forces (France is Mali\u2019s former colonizer), as well as security assistance from the US and a UN-led peacekeeping mission.
These armed groups have wrought immense havoc in the country. \u201cThere was an almost generalized breakdown of authority\u201d in some areas, said ECFR\u2019s Lebovich. Thousands of Malian troops and civilians have died, and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced due to years of fighting. The violence has even spread into neighboring countries like Burkina Faso and Niger.”
…
“many in Mali will hope that much-needed change has come to the country. \u201cThe Malian public are hoping for better governance and the true dividends of democracy,\u201d said CSIS\u2019s Devermont. \u201cFor now, they\u2019re welcoming the military\u2019s removal of the government with those hopes.\u201d”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2020\/8\/19\/21375138\/mali-coup-president-keita-military-election <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The relative ease with which the coup leaders \u2014 many of them trained as soldiers by US, Russian, and other international militaries \u2014 dismantled the government has experts wondering if the operation was long planned, and if the lack of fighting between military units suggested widespread coordination among Mali\u2019s forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis appears to have been organized and thought through,\u201d said Andrew Lebovich, an expert on West African security issues at the European Council on Foreign Relations.<\/p>\n
So far, it seems the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, as the military junta calls itself, has no desire to actually run the country. Instead, the committee, which is made up of a mix of colonels and generals, says it will provide transitional leadership until new elections can be held \u2014 though it\u2019s unclear when they might take place.”<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
“Despite the surprise nature of the military takeover, though, few experts were surprised a coup proved Ke\u00efta\u2019s downfall. Not only does the country have a long history of them, but it has suffered from terrorist, militia, and criminal violence throughout Ke\u00efta\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n
Add to that years of unabashed government corruption plus a spring parliamentary election many believe was skewed to favor Ke\u00efta\u2019s political party, and it gave the military an opening to remove the president amid clear popular dissatisfaction.<\/p>\n
Wagu\u00e9, the junta spokesperson, hit on those dire themes in his statement: \u201cOur country is sinking into chaos, anarchy, and insecurity mostly due to the fault of the people who are in charge of its destiny.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that widespread sentiment, ultimately, that has many in Mali pleased to see the former leader removed from power. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a coup against Ke\u00efta, but a coup against a system that wasn\u2019t working,\u201d Judd Devermont, the US\u2019s national intelligence officer for Africa from 2015 to 2018, told me.”<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
“IBK dragged his feet on reforming the economy and instituting anti-corruption reforms, and the people had enough of it. \u201cWe are tired and oppressed. Our children are also tired, no school nor enough food to feed our families,\u201d Fotoumata Bathily, a Malian protester, told Voice of America last month. \u201cWhat we need is Ibrahim Boubacar to leave so the country could prosper.\u201d” <\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
“That wasn\u2019t all. In 2012, just a year before Ke\u00efta became president, armed fighters and jihadists took control of northern Mali. Their influence and the violence that takeover instigated has since metastasized to the central part of the country. This is despite years of military campaigns by Malian forces and French forces (France is Mali\u2019s former colonizer), as well as security assistance from the US and a UN-led peacekeeping mission.<\/p>\n
These armed groups have wrought immense havoc in the country. \u201cThere was an almost generalized breakdown of authority\u201d in some areas, said ECFR\u2019s Lebovich. Thousands of Malian troops and civilians have died, and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced due to years of fighting. The violence has even spread into neighboring countries like Burkina Faso and Niger.” <\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
“many in Mali will hope that much-needed change has come to the country. \u201cThe Malian public are hoping for better governance and the true dividends of democracy,\u201d said CSIS\u2019s Devermont. \u201cFor now, they\u2019re welcoming the military\u2019s removal of the government with those hopes.\u201d”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[981],"class_list":["post-3332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-share","tag-mali"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3333,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3332\/revisions\/3333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}