Mali M5 opposition rallies in Bamako

eral hundred Supporters of Mali’s M5 opposition movement assembled at a central square in the capital Bamako on Friday to commemorate the launch of the mass protests last year that eventually culminated in the ousting of then president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on August 18, 2020.

The apparently long-planned rally comes after Colonel Assimi Goita pushed out the interim president and prime minister on May 24.

This is the second coup d’état in nine months spearheaded by the colonel and although he has garnered support from the M5 activists, his latest move has sparked international outcry.

Suspension of military operations
France on Friday suspended joint military operations with Malian forces, and stopped providing military advice.

The former coloniser has thousands of troops stationed in the Sahel to help fight jihadist violence that erupted in Mali in 2012 and now threatens the region.

A M5-RFP supporter, Kadiatou Sangaré, does not believe the presence of French troops is necessary to keep jihadists at bay.

“If the French army wants to leave; good luck. If the jihadists have to come to Bamako, they will come to Bamako; we will manage it as we can.

“But in the end we will have a definitive solution because when Germany occupied France, the French managed, they got away with it and now they are among the best. If we have to fight for our country… this is our home, we won’t go anywhere, we’ll fight here and we’ll succeed.”

Another protester, Mohamed Diarra, scoffs at the perceived neo-colonial approach of France towards Mali.

“Macron is just someone who boasts. We are already a sovereign people; it is not up to Macron, six thousand kilometres from Mali, to decide the fate of the Malians.

“We have given France a chance since the 1960s. There are agreements that bind us, but France has not been able to put them into practice, we are a sovereign state, we have the choice of partnership with whom we want, it is not up to France to impose itself.”

Suspension from AU and ECOWAS
On the other side of the spectrum, Goita’s actions have resulted in the suspension of Mali from both the African Union AU and the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS.

The colonel is expected to be formally appointed as Mali’s transitional president on Monday, which would pave the way towards naming a civilian prime minister – a key international demand and a move that some argue could soften international criticism of the second coup.

Goita might assign the position of prime minister to a leading M5 figure.

AFN/Nneka Ukachukwu