…May elect soldier as interim president
Mali’s ruling junta pushed through a political charter on Saturday that could lead to the appointment of a military officer as interim president that would head a 18 month transition to civil rule programme.
But the coalition that led anti-government protests before last month’s coup raised objections against a military interim president.
The charter, ratified by participants in the talks, says the interim president can be a civilian or a soldier and will preside over a transitional period of 18 months before elections are held, said Moussa Camara, the spokesman for the talks.
The interim president will be selected by electors chosen by the junta, Camara said in remarks at the end of three days of negotiations.
The M5-RFP coalition that led protests against President Ibrahim Boubcar Keita before the Aug. 18 coup has forcefully opposed the idea that a military officer could lead the transition.
So have Mali’s West African neighbours, who have also insisted on a transition of no more than one year.
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As long as he/she is a person of high integrity and able to solve Mali’ s problems and organise Democratic elections , there is no need to insist on whether he/she is a military or civilian !