The holding of elections in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, three countries ruled by soldiers who came to power in a coup d’etat, will be on the menu of the next summit of the Economic Community of African States. West (ECOWAS), July 9 in Guinea-Bissau, announced Tuesday, June 20, the Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara.
“The holding of elections within the proposed timeframe is desired, so that these countries have democratically elected regimes and leaders,” said a statement from the Ivorian presidency issued after a meeting in Abidjan between Mr. Ouattara and the representative of the Secretary General of the UN for West Africa and the Sahel, Léonardo Santos Simao. “The President of the Republic revealed that this subject will be discussed during the next ECOWAS summit, which will take place on July 9, 2023 in Guinea-Bissau,” the document adds.
Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso were suspended from ECOWAS decision-making bodies after military takeovers in 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively. Mali and Guinea had additionally been subject to other sanctions, partly lifted. The military has pledged in Mali and Burkina Faso, two countries plagued by deadly jihadist violence, to a return to constitutional order in 2024. In Guinea, the junta has pledged to withdraw in early 2025.
According to Alassane Ouattara, the elections are “an imperative for all of West Africa, in particular for Côte d’Ivoire, a neighboring country of these three nations, which has supported all efforts to end the crisis there”. On February 10, Mali, Guinea and Burkina unsuccessfully requested the lifting of their suspension from ECOWAS and the African Union (AU).