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| Africa North |
| Mali opposition rejects president's concessions aimed at ending impasse |
| 2020-07-13 |
| [Al Ahram] Mali's opposition on Sunday rejected concessions by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita aimed at resolving an escalating political crisis that has sparked deadly protests, saying it would be satisfied only if he resigns. Keita announced in a speech late on Saturday he was dissolving the Constitutional Court and would move to implement recommendations made last month by regional bloc ECOWAS, which included re-running some of March's contested legislative elections.A front man for M5-RFP, a coalition of political, religious and civil society leaders that launched protests over a month ago calling for Keita to resign, rejected his proposal. "We are not going to accept this nonsense," the front man, Nouhoum Togo, told Rooters. "We demand his resignation plain and simple." Keita, who won a second term in 2018, has faced mounting public discontent over a perceived failure to address the country's security and economic problems. The wave of protests was sparked by a dispute over the elections. The court that Keita proposed dissolving reversed several provisional results, handing additional seats in parliament to the president's party. Four people died in the capital Bamako on Friday during a demonstration where protesters occupied the parliament and national broadcaster, the government said. It was the third major protest organised by the M5-RFP since June 5. Related: ECOWAS: 2019-01-31 Terrorists financing reduced in West Africa in 2018 -- ECOWAS ECOWAS: 2017-09-12 Togo postpones Africa-Israel summit ECOWAS: 2017-07-13 Why is Netanyahu courting Africa? Related: Ibrahim Boubacar Keita: 2020-06-20 Tens of thousands of people rally in Mali's capital Bamako to demand the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita Ibrahim Boubacar Keita: 2019-07-02 Mali: 23 dead in attacks on Fulani communities Ibrahim Boubacar Keita: 2019-06-22 Thousands of Malians demonstrate to demand end to massacres |
| Posted by:Fred |