SPY EYES

BAMAKO, Mali — Under intense pressure from the nations bordering Mali, the junior officer who seized control of the country in a coup last month signed an accord late Friday, agreeing to return the nation to constitutional rule.
The announcement came only hours after separatist rebels in Mali’s distant north declared their independence, a move that further complicates a crisis that began 16 days ago when a group of disgruntled soldiers stormed the presidential palace, reversing two decades of democratic rule in the space of a day.

Under intense pressure from the nations bordering Mali, Sanogo, the junior officer who seized control of the country in a coup last month signed an accord agreeing to return the country to constitutional rule. The announcement was made late Friday, only hours after separatist rebels in the country’s distant north declared their independence.

On Friday, Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo emerged from his office inside the same military base where the mutiny began and which has acted as the de facto seat of government ever since the March 21 coup.

Flanked by the ministers of neighboring nations, he read out the accord, stating that under Article 36 of Mali’s constitution the head of the national assembly becomes interim president in the event of a vacancy of power. The head of the parliament will form an interim government, which will organize new elections.
“In the event of the vacancy of the presidency of the republic for whatever reason, or due to any absolute and definitive impediment,” Sanogo said, “the functions of the president of the republic will be exercised by the president of the National Assembly.”

However, the accord did not say what role the military junta will play in the future. It also did not state when the head of the assembly will assume the post, or how long the transition will last before new elections are held. Dioncounda Traore, the head of the assembly, fled Mali after the coup.

Although article 36 of the constitution says elections should be held in no more than 40 days, the accord explains that that timeframe will likely be extended, due to rebellion which has turned the northern half of the country into a war zone.

“Because of the exceptional circumstances that the country is going through, because of the institutional crisis and the armed rebellion in the north which have badly affected the functioning of the institutions of the republic and because of the impossibility of organizing elections in 40 days as set out under the constitution,” Sanogo said. “It is indispensable to organize a political transition with the aim of organizing free, democratic and transparent elections.”
The declaration was welcomed by Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister Djibrill Bassole, who flanked Sanogo while he read the accord. Bassole said afterwards that the nations bordering Mali had agreed to lift the crippling sanctions which went into effect earlier this week, including the closure of the country’s borders. Landlocked Mali imports all its fuel, and already many neighborhoods in Bamako had only electricity for half the day.

A senior official who was involved in the negotiations said that the head of the assembly would likely fly back as early as Saturday. He said that the accord means that Sanogo — who just days ago had stubbornly refused to step aside — has finally chosen to put the country back on a democratic path.

Source: Nytimes