Antonio Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees speaks during a press conference at the Launch of the Regional Flash Appeal Following recent events in Libyan Arab Jamahiri
The United Nations chief on Thursday said it is absolutely essential for the ruling military government of Mali to present an acceptable election timetable amid anger about its suggestion of staying in power for five years before holding a vote.
Antonio Guterres also said the electoral calendar could lead to the gradual easing of sanctions on the West African nation.
On Sunday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) severed links and slapped tougher economic and political on the Sahel nation for delaying elections following a 2020 military coup.
The move came after Mali’s interim government in December proposed staying in power for up to five years, citing security concerns before staging elections, defying international demands that it respect a promise to hold elections on February 27.
The sanctions have led to escalating tensions and rhetoric between Mali and its partners including France and the European Union, which said on Thursday that it will impose sanctions on Mali in line with measures already taken by the ECOWAS.
“Naturally, I am working with ECOWAS and with the African Union to create the conditions which can allow the government of Mali to adopt a reasonable and acceptable position to accelerate a transition which has already lasted for a long time,” Guterres told journalists in New York.
Guterres said he held discussions on Wednesday with the presidents of Ghana, who chairs ECOWAS, Senegal and Nigeria, and with Moussa Faki, president of the African Union Commission, as well as with Algeria’s minister of foreign affairs.
This could bring back a sense of “normalcy in relations between this state and the international community, ECOWAS in particular,” Guterres said.
“I hope to be able to get in touch soon with the Malian government,” he said.
