Senegal’s prime minister has stated that the new government in Dakar respects the “choices” of military regimes in the region, including Mali
Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has expressed support for Mali’s transitional government, pledging that his country will continue to oppose sanctions imposed on the West African nation in response to military coups.
Sonko made the remarks while meeting with Mali’s transitional president, Assimi Goita, and Prime Minister Choguel Maiga during a working visit to the Malian capital of Bamako on Monday.
The office of Mali’s presidency announced on X that the meeting covered several key issues, including regional security and possibilities for economic cooperation between the two West African countries.
“When I come here, I am at home, and I come to talk to my brothers… We were, as opponents, the first to denounce and we continue to firmly denounce the embargo that was imposed on Mali by brother countries, unfortunately, including our own country,” the prime minister said, according to state broadcaster RTS.
Mali experienced back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, both led by Goita. The military rulers failed to uphold a promise to hold elections in February 2022, prompting stiff sanctions from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The economic and financial sanctions imposed on the jihadist-hit Sahel state were lifted in 2022 after the military government pledged to restore civilian rule by March 2024. The authorities scheduled presidential elections for February of this year but last September postponed them, citing technical reasons and promising to announce a new date later.
However, in an effort to force Mali and its military-ruled neighbors, Niger and Burkina Faso, to transition to civilian rule, the regional bloc has kept their membership suspended.
