Mali: Goita's lawyer unhappy about ECOWAS-imposed sanctions

Mixed reactions after ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Mal in reaction to the second coup in nine months i.e. Colonel Assimi Goita assuming control of the West African nation.

Sunday, the regional organisation suspended the country from its authorities.

Youssouf Coulibaly, the legal adviser to the junta leader, is circumspect about this decision.

"ECOWAS hides behind the application of the protocol on good governance and democracy, while the same body has disregarded the content of its texts in relation to some neighbouring countries. I give you the example of Côte d'Ivoire, where the protocol has not been respected."

In this interview granted to AFP, the influential president of a commission of the National Transitional Council also denies the term coup d'état.

This takeover would be, according to him, a correction of the trajectory.

"Most of Mouctar Ouane's ministers did not move in relation to the application, the execution of the roadmap. We were supposed to be in another phase: the preparation of elections. We found that nothing had been done. The Prime Minister had already rerouted himself, he was on to other things."

Concerning the holding of elections in 2022, as promised by the junta after ousting then-president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August 2020, Yousouf Coulibaly is more sceptical.

"For us to do it, it would be a real challenge. I think that objectively nine months is not enough time to achieve all the work we have to do to achieve stable, credible and uncontested elections."

These statements could make a lot of noise at a time when ECOWAS is insisting on elections on February 27 2022.