Mali president meets head of protest movement

A video posted on the presidency’s Twitter account showed the meeting between President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Mahmoud Dicko, an imam and leading figure of the so-called June 5 movement, in the capital Bamako on Saturday.

It was the first official meeting between the two men since two demonstrations last month drew tens of thousands to the streets.

The protests have channelled deep-seated frustration over jihadist attacks and inter-ethnic violence that have claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes since 2012.

“We talked about everything that concerns this crisis and the country in general. I think that with the will of everyone and of all the parties concerned, we will, God willing, find the solution,” Dicko said in the video.

“My role as an imam, as I have said, obliges me to be someone who always considers peace as being essential: peace in our country, the sub-region and in the world.”

Keita, who has been in power since 2013, also met representatives of other political parties with the aim of “easing the political situation”, the presidency said.

– List of demands –

The opposition coalition of religious leaders, politicians and civil society figures said on Wednesday that Keita’s resignation would no longer be a condition for talks.

However, they outlined a list of demands including the dissolution of parliament and the formation of a transitional government whose prime minister would be appointed by the movement and could not be removed by the president.

The slow pace of political reform, a flagging economy, a lack of funding for public services and schools and a widely shared perception of government corruption have fed anti-Keita sentiment.

Last month’s protests followed demonstrations in May over the results of March’s long-delayed parliamentary elections — which Keita’s party won — as well as over coronavirus restrictions.

The 75-year-old president has taken a conciliatory stance since the demonstrations began, mooting a national unity government in a June 14 address to the nation. Protest leaders rejected that offer.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Mali has been engulfed in conflict since a jihadist insurgency emerged in the north in 2012 and spread to the fragile centre of the country in 2015, as well as to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.