Mali: With Bah N’Daw resignation, Assimi Goïta becomes president

Less than 48 hours after dismissing the President of the transition, Bah N’Daw, and his Prime Minister, Moctar Ouane, Colonel Assimi Goïta becomes the new President of the transition.

On Wednesday, May 26, Bah N’Daw submitted his resignation and that of his Prime Minister to the man who had previously been his Vice President. The government, whose composition had been unveiled on 24 May a few hours before the military coup, was dissolved.

Point of no return

This announcement confirms that the head of the junta that led the coup against Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (IBK) on 18 August has now taken control of the executive branch.

Tensions between Assimi Goïta and Bah N’Daw had increased since the reappointment of Moctar Ouane as Prime Minister on 14 May. But it was the announcement of the composition of the new government on Monday [24 May] evening that was the point of no return.

Assimi Goïta, who was kept away from the discussions, contested in particular the eviction of two of his loyalists, influential members of the former Conseil National pour le Salut du Peuple (CNSP, officially dissolved in January): colonels Modibo Koné and Sadio Camara, respectively Minister of Security and Minister of Defence in the previous government.

Arrested on the evening of 24 May, Bah N’Daw and Moctar Ouane have since been held in the Kati military camp, located about 15 kilometres from Bamako. This is also the case for General Souleymane Doucouré, who was to become the new Minister of Defense, and Kalilou Doumbia, Bah N’Daw’s special advisor.