Pan African Parliament may not accredit Mali delegation at May Session

There are indications that the Pan African Parliament (PAP) may not accredit or recognize any Mali Delegation at the Fourth Ordinary Session of the Fifth Parliament  of PAP scheduled to commence on May 14, 2021.

Indications to this effect emerged following the refusal of the ECOWAS Parliament sitting in Freetown on April 5, 2021 to accord recognition to the Mali Members of the regional parliament.

ECOWAS Parliament reasoned that the military after the coup, dismantled all democratic institutions in the country and that the National Transitional Council which acts as the country’s parliament, was not democratically elected.

 It would be recalled that parliamentary elections were held on March 29, 2020 with a second run-off on April 19, 2020 the outcome of which triggered popular unrest beginning from June 5, 2020.

The unrest culminated in a coup on August 18, 2020 which resulted in the dismantling of all the democratic institutions by the military including the ouster of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.

A National Transitional Council (CNT) was subsequently established on December 3, 2020, with Transitional President Bah N’Daou appointing 121 members who are now acting as a de facto government towards restoring full constitutional order. 

The CNT which acts as the Interim National Assembly is entrusted with legislative powers.

However, the dissolved parliament had before the coup, submitted a list of the following parliamentarians to the PAP: Hon. Salif Keita, Hon. Aly Kone, Hon. Moctar Mariko, Hon. Aminata Fatima Fofana and Hon. Haidara Aichata. This seems to have been overtaken by events.

Recently, the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) undertook a parliamentary briefing on the transition process in Mali, from February 25 to March 5, 2021 in Bamako, the capital of Mali. The president of the community parliament, Sidie Mohamed Tunis, led this parliamentary mission.

The mission, during its stay, gathered the necessary information from all stakeholders on the evolution of the transition process, in particular from the transition bodies.