The junta that overthrew Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on August 18th has appointed the former defence minister and retired Col. Maj. Ba N’Daou as the president during the transition period on Monday.
Head of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, Colonel Assimi Goïta, issued a nationally televised announcement pronouncing Ba N’Daou, as the Malian transitional president.
The new president is expected to serve as head of state for several months before a return of civilians to power in the West African country.
A sociologist based in Bamako, Ben Aly Toure has said, “I would have liked us to choose a politician because Mali has been a democracy for almost 25 years, I think there are major actors who have the vision, who has the experience and who really have the rigour to lead this transition. But what we’ve seen is a pity”.
Nouhoum Fomba explained that the choice is a good one. “He is purely apolitical, that’s why I’m happy. He is also a career soldier, several times Chief of Staff and has held high positions in the army. The fact that he studied in Russia opens the way to Russia too.”
Appointed by a committee set up by the junta in power since ousting — in a coup d-état, ex-president Malian researcher, Baba Dakona, thinks that there is basically no man for the situation in the country.
“There are men who can do things. There are personalities who are less divisive, and I think he is one of the least divisive personalities in the country. But really the situation can only be resolved through a national awakening. Therefore, it will not be the president of the transition alone, but all the Malian political, civil and military actors to bring this transition to a successful conclusion.”
The swearing-in ceremony for the new transition government which has Head of the Junta chief Col. Assimi Goïta as vice president will take place on Friday, September 25.
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