The crisis in Mali: a colonel in the army becomes interim head of state

After the Malian army arrested the previous caretaker government, a colonel is now the new interim head of state. The Constitutional Court decided that Assimi Goïta should run the business of the government from now on.

After the head of the interim government in Mali was sacked, the Constitutional Court of the troubled West African state declared the influential military colonel Asimi Guetta the new interim president. The court said that Gotha “will act as interim president to end the transition process” in Mali.

The colonel previously served as deputy head of the transitional government. “In light of the vacant transitional presidency, it was appropriate to assign Goetta the duties of the interim head of state,” the court said.

The second coup within a year

Former interim president Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Mokhtar Ouani were removed from office on Monday in Mali. Two days later, both of them announced their resignation. The operation was severely criticized at the international level and denounced as the second coup in Mali within nine months.

Gota was the leader of the coup plotters who overthrew President-elect Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August 2020 after protracted protests. An interim government headed by Ndaou and Awan was formed in September and was supposed to ensure the return of civilian rule in Mali.