BAMAKO – Mali's interim legislature has elected Colonel Malick Diaw, a member of the military junta that toppled president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August, as its president.
The 121-seat body groups political parties, civil society groups, trade unions and soldiers, and was meeting for its inaugural session in the capital Bamako.
One hundred and eight members voted for Diaw, who stood as the sole candidate, according to AFP journalists.
Under the threat of international sanctions, the officers between September and October handed power to an interim government, which is meant to rule for 18 months before staging elections.
Figures with army links dominate this interim government, however, and anger over their prominent role is growing.
Coup leader Colonel Assimi Goita was elected interim vice president, for example, and retired army colonel Bah Ndaw was also elected interim president.
The opposition June 5 Movement, which led protests against Keita this year, said in a statement on Friday that it was boycotting the new legislature and that it would not serve as a “stooge for a disguised military regime”. – AFP, December 6, 2020.
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