MALI: Representatives from Mali's political parties say they will bring the country to a standstill in order to force the junta to return the country to constitutional rule

Record ID: 340757

  • Title: MALI: Representatives from Mali's political parties say they will bring the country to a standstill in order to force the junta to return the country to constitutional rule
  • Date: 28th March 2012
  • Summary: WOMEN SELLING FOOD PEOPLE GATHERING AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF MALI'S MAIN UNION UNTM MAN HOLDING A TAPE RECORDER (SOUNDBITE) (French) PRESIDENT OF PARENA PARTY, DJIEBLE DRAME, SAYING: "(We will) organise a warning strike to the attention of those who took power in an unconstitutional manner." PEOPLE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (French) PRESIDENT OF PARENA PARTY, DJIEBLE DRAM
  • Embargoed: 12th April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mali, Mali
  • Country: Mali
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3HSUJH8HCAZJR3ZKX4XIOCTEV
  • Story Text: Domestic and international pressure is mounting on Tuesday (March 27) on the newly-installed junta to give up power in what was seen as one of West Africa's strongest democracies, which is also facing a Tuareg rebellion in its desert north.
    In the capital Bamako, the coup has sparked an anti-junta political and civil society movement, which has promised to pressure the junta to restore constitutional order through measures that may include a general strike.
    "(We will) organise a warning strike to the attention of those who took power in an unconstitutional manner," said Djieble Drame, the president of the PARENA party.
    The moment aims to bring the country to a standstill, which they are calling a "dead country" day, to force the junta to back off.
    "(We) are planning a general strike, a day of 'dead country' so that we can obtain our strategic objective, and organise civil disobedience," Drame said.
    Alimani Haidara a member from the National Council for the Youth expressed concern that Malians would siffer if inyternational aid were cut off as a result of the coup.
    "If today the international opinion cuts off the money and aid foreigners give Mali, if this aid is cut off Mali can't go anywhere. So the soldiers should understand that Mali is part of this world. It's a usual country, so we must come back to what we call normality," Haidara said.
    The United States said on Monday it would suspend some aid to Mali after last week's coup, estimating 60-70 million U.S. dollars may be affected, but stressed it would maintain food and humanitarian assistance.
    The European Union said last week it suspended development operations in the country, a major regional cotton and gold producer, but also left humanitarian help unchanged.
    Former colonial power France, which had encouraged Mali's president Amadou Toumani Toure to play a more robust role in regional security efforts targeting local al Qaeda agents and other crime, has suspended certain security assistance to Mali.
    Presidents from eight West African nations at a meeting in Abidjan on Tuesday, studied a possible suspension of Mali's membership from the regional bloc ECOWAS to punish leaders of last week's military coup.
    An ECOWAS source said it was likely leaders gathered in Abidjan would agree to suspend Mali from the grouping - a largely symbolic measure intended to highlight the region's rejection of the coup. Other options include so-called targeted sanctions - travel bans or asset freezes - on individual coup leaders.
    Presidents from Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Niger, and Sierra Leone were also present. Goodluck Jonathan, president of regional military and economic powerhouse Nigeria, was absent, attending a nuclear conference in South Korea.
    Soldiers ousted Toure last Wednesday after a mutiny sparked by soaring frustration in the army over the government's handling of a Tuareg rebellion in the desert north, where the military has faced a series of setbacks.
    The army has complained it lacks the supplies and equipment needed to properly beat back the rebels, who have been reinforced by fighters and weapons from Libya's war.
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