• The AU has thus backed regional bloc ECOWAS' move late last week
• The suspension is in connection with political events in the country that triggered a second coup in nine months
The African Union, AU, has suspended Mali days after the regional bloc, ECOWAS, took a similar decision.
This was contained in a June 2, 2021 communique issues by the AU's Peace and Security Council after its 1001st Meeting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The communique stressed the body's respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Mali but said it backed the ECOWAS position on the matter in a move to swiftly return the country to civilian rule.
It read in part: Acting under Article 7 of its Protocol, the Peace and Security Council,
1. Endorses the decisions adopted by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, as outlined in paragraph 8 of its Communique issued on 30 May 2021, in Accra, Ghana;
2. Condemns in the strongest terms possible and totally rejects coups d’état and unconstitutional changes of government in the Continent, consistent with the provisions of Article 4(p) of the AU Constitutive Act;
3. Decides, accordingly, in line with the relevant AU normative instruments, to immediately suspend the Republic of Mali from participation in all activities of the African Union, its Organs and institutions, until normal constitutional order has been restored in the country.
Back in Mali, a new Prime Minister has been announced in the person of Choguel Kokalla Maïga.
Mr Maïga, a leader of the 5 June-Rally of Patriotic Forces (M5-RFP) movement that resulted in the coup that ousted former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in August 2020, was appointed by transitional president Colonel Assimi Goita.
Goita, the architect of two coups in nine months, declared himself president last week, a move endorsed by the Constitutional Court.
The new president fired his then boss President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane after they failed to consult him in a cabinet reschuffle.
Colonel Assimi Goita has led two coup d'etats in nine months