Former Nigerian President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said that ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali does not want to return to power but a quick transition to allow the country return as soon as possible to a civilian regime.
Jonathan said this as talks between a delegation of West African envoys which he is heading and the military officers who overthrew Keita ended without a deal on how the country should return to civilian rule following last week’s coup.
“President Keita told us that he has resigned, that he was not forced to do so and that he does not want to return.
“He says he wants a quick transition to allow the country [to] return as soon as possible to a civilian regime,” said Jonathan.
The mediation team from the regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) would now report to heads of state on progress made before a summit on Mali later this week, Colonel Ismael Wague said on Monday, but the military spokesman added that the final decision on the makeup of an interim transitional administration would be decided “by Malians”.
He added that no timeline had been established for elections to return the country to civilian rule. The coup leaders previously said they would stage elections “within a reasonable time”.
Separately, the two sides meeting in the capital, Bamako, said Keita – whose return to the office had been initially demanded by ECOWAS – no longer wished to resume duties.
Wague maintained that Keita, whose term was set to expire in 2023, had resigned of his own free will and not because he was under pressure from mutinous soldiers.
The ECOWAS delegation met the 75-year-old former president, who was being held at the military barracks in Kati, near the capital, Bamako.
On the morning of August 18, soldiers at the barracks in Kati launched a mutiny and then began detaining officials in the capital. They later encircled the private residence where Keita was staying with his prime minister and fired shots into the air. The coup leaders maintained they took the president into custody for his own protection.
At around midnight, Keita appeared on state television and announced his immediate resignation, as well as the dissolution of his government and the National Assembly. “Today, certain parts of the military have decided that intervention was necessary. Do I really have a choice? Because I do not wish blood to be shed,” Keita added in his brief statement.
Before dawn, five military officers also made a televised statement announcing that their committee was now in control.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES