Barley 24 hours of the resignation of Cheick Modibo Diarra as Prime Minister of the country,Malian interim President Dioncounda Traoré, has appointed Django Sissoko to replace his position.
Bamako/NationalTurk- Mr. Diarra resigned with his cabinet hours after being arrested by military men acting on the orders of March coup leader Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo.
But Capt Amadou Sanogo, who led a coup in March, said Mr. Diarra had not been forced to quit and the military had only facilitated his resignation.
The decree appointing Sissoko was aired on Malian state television on Monday night. Traoré also said a new government will be announced before the end of the week.
This recent show of force comes at a time the government of Mali and the regional bloc ECOWAS are calling on the UN Security Council to urgently approve the deployment of UN troops to the country in other to retake the north.
The region has been under the control of Islamic rebels for the past eight months after a palace coup on March 22 that overthrew President Amadou Toumani Touré.
Local media reported that France has condemned the circumstances leading to the prime minister’s resignation and have called on the president to urgently form a new government which must be representative and have the support of a large segment of the Malian the Malian population.
UN threatens to impose sanction on Mali
The United Nations had threatened to impose sanctions over Monday’s arrest and the Security Council said it was ready to take appropriate measures against those who undermined Mali’s stability.
“The members of the Security Council express their readiness to consider appropriate measures, including targeted sanctions, against those who prevent the restoration of the constitutional order and take actions that undermine stability in Mali,” the council said in a statement.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was troubled by the latest developments, which underscored the importance of national and international efforts to address the political crisis in Mali.
The United States called the return of the military into Malian politics as a setback to democracy and the regional body, ECOWAS, condemned the action.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
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