Mali: with its sanctions, ECOWAS wants to push for the holding of elections “without punishing the people”

Published on : 08/11/2021 – 17:54

Meeting on Sunday, November 7 in the Ghanaian capital, members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sent a message of firmness to the military in power in Mali and Guinea, calling for “a process of transition as soon as possible”.

If the organization has decided to maintain the sanctions in place against the Guinean junta, while welcoming the adoption of a Transition Charter, a new step has been taken vis-à-vis the Malian leaders with the adoption of targeted measures against members of the transitional authorities and their families.

The ECOWAS thus hopes to force the authorities to respect the transition deadline, established by the former government on February 27, 2022, but deemed unrealistic by the current Prime Minister, who refuses for the time being to provide a timetable. Are these new sanctions able to change the game? France 24 takes stock.

“Insufficient” targeted sanctions

At its meeting on September 16, ECOWAS had issued an ultimatum to the Malian junta: “The conference asks the transitional authorities to submit by the end of October 2021 at the latest, the timetable leading to the essential steps for the February 2022 elections”. An injunction since rejected by Mali, which said it was “unable” to meet the transition deadline.

On Sunday, the ECOWAS therefore carried out its threat by imposing a travel ban and an asset freeze on members of the transitional authorities and their families. While the targeted measures usually concern individuals named, the ECOWAS has here chosen to attack entities “whose actions have a negative impact on the timetable for the transition”.

“A strong signal” but whose concrete impact remains very limited, according to Étienne Fakaba Sissoko, director of the Center for Research, Political, Economic and Social Analysis of Mali (Crapes), contacted by France 24.

“The members of the transitional authorities were previously unknown to the general public. For the most part, they are not personalities who have personal financial interests outside Mali. This measure in itself is insufficient to make the authorities bow. is part of a process of gradual sanctions put in place by ECOWAS to advance the negotiations and, as such, constitutes an essential step. “

>> Read also: How sovereignty became the spearhead of politics in Mali

The embargo, an “excessive measure”?

If many Malians claiming to be patriotic have sharply criticized these new sanctions, denouncing an attempt to interfere more in the internal affairs of the country, others sighed with relief believing to have escaped the worst. Because the economic embargo decreed by ECOWAS two days after the coup of August 18, 2020 has left traces in the country.

“Malians have suffered greatly from the closure of borders and above all from the stoppage of financial transactions which had aroused much criticism. This reaction to the military coup was deemed excessive and generated a lot of misunderstanding, because the ECOWAS shows itself little criticism when presidents, admittedly elected like Alpha Condé in Guinea, flout the rule of law “underlines Mohamed Amara, doctor in sociology at the University of Letters and Human Sciences of Bamako, contacted by France 24.

“The ECOWAS is well aware that its image is degraded in Mali and must try as best they can to advance the democratic agenda without giving the impression of punishing the people”, continues Mohamed Amara, also author of “Merchants of anguish . Mali as it is, as it could be “(ed. Grandvaux). “Because with the economic crisis we are experiencing, a new embargo could further aggravate the social crisis and lead to a popular uprising.”

Economic sanctions as “the ultimate lever”

If ECOWAS has so far been careful not to raise the threat of a new embargo, the press release published at the end of the November 7 conference “asks the Commission to examine and propose other sanctions at its next ordinary session scheduled for December 12, 2021 “.

“There is no doubt that the next step is the economic sanction, it is the only effective weapon that ECOWAS will remain if the negotiations do not progress”, judge Étienne Fakaba Sissoko, recalling that Mali has already been excluded from ECOWAS and African Union bodies.

“Even while preserving, as was the case in 2020, trade in basic foodstuffs and pharmaceutical products, the embargo leads to the interruption of interbank operations. For example, it is then impossible to transfer money. money between two competing banks, or even to deposit a check from another bank than his. State investments quickly become very difficult, as well as the payment of salaries. This is why the ECOWAS prefers this time to keep this very unpopular and costly measure as the ultimate lever, especially since it also penalizes the economies of neighboring countries. This thinly veiled threat has serious consequences and may be sufficient today to unblock the situation. “

Mohamed Amara also considers that the negotiations between the Malian authorities and ECOWAS are now in a crucial phase. “Of course, ECOWAS insists on the deadline of February 27, but what it is actually asking for is a clear commitment from the authorities to hold elections, even after that date. Everyone knows that. In view of the accumulated delay, this deadline is in any case not tenable. However, the Malian authorities must agree to provide one, if only to serve as a basis for discussions. refuse but they are under pressure because this hard-hitting attitude is increasingly badly perceived by some citizens and political actors. “

Thursday, November 4, one of the main opposition parties, which had so far refrained from openly criticizing the power in place, published a memorandum denouncing “Mali’s unprecedented diplomatic isolation“and judging that the country now needed a” unifying Prime Minister, less divisive “.