ECOWAS suspends Mali's membership over military coup, calls for appointment of new PM

Bamako [Mali], May 31 : After the military coup in Mali that witnessed the detention and ouster of President Bah N'Daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, the country's membership in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was suspended on Sunday.
West African leaders have now called for the appointment of a new Prime Minister in Mali. This comes after the country's newly-appointed Interim President Colonel Assimi Goita left for Ghana on Saturday, to participate in an ECOWAS summit, reported Sputnik.
"After extensive discussions on the situation in Mali, the Heads of State and Government took the following decisions: ... Decide to suspend Mali from ECOWAS Institutions in line with ECOWAS provisions; Call for a new civilian Prime Minister to be nominated immediately," said the ECOWAS on Sunday.
The bloc also called for the formation of a 'new inclusive government' should be formed in Mali to proceed with the transition program that will last 18 months.
"...the date of 27 February 2022 already announced for the Presidential election should be absolutely maintained. A monitoring Mechanism will be put in place to this effect," it added.
The ECOWAS decided that the head of the transition, the vice president and the prime minister of the transition should not be candidates for the upcoming election under any circumstances, Sputnik reported.
The military junta in Mali had arrested the President, Prime Minister and Defence minister Souleymane Doucoure of the country's interim government following a cabinet reshuffle.
Meanwhile, Goita had earlier said that he had dismissed the president and prime minister for violating the transitional charter. He told ECOWAS that a military council would assume power in Mali, informed a military source.
This happened after the military had arrested N'Daw and Ouane and transported them to the Kati military base near the capital of Bamako.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron warned that France could withdraw its troops from Mali if it falls into radical Islamism, Sputnik reported.
"Radical Islamism in Mali with our soldiers there? Never," Macron told a French daily, adding that if it does happen, "I will withdraw".
Macron also said he had warned West African leaders not to back a country "where there is no longer democratic legitimacy or transition."
In August last year, a group of Malian soldiers started a mutiny at the Kati military base, where insurgents kidnapped several ministers and high-ranking military officials, including former President Ibrahim Boubakar Keita, who later dissolved the government and parliament.
Later, on September 12, the military approved the basic law and strategy for transition after consultations with political and civil figures. The parties agreed that the transition period would last eighteen months. Bah N'Daw, a former defense minister, was initially appointed as president for that period, Sputnik reported.