Mali’s Prime Minister Choguel Maiga was sacked yesterday, Wednesday.
Prime Minister Maiga was sacked and the cabinet was dismissed, days after Maiga issued rare criticism of the military rulers. Prime Minister Maiga had criticized the junta for indefinitely postponing the country’s return to civilian rule. The military has been in charge in Mali since 2020 following back-to-back coups.
At a rally on Saturday, Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga publicly warned of “serious challenges and the risk of going backwards” while the junta continues to postpone Mali’s transition back to civilian rule.
The junta, led by General Assimi Goita, took power in the West African country after back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021. It had promised a return to civilian rule by March 2024 but elections have been postponed indefinitely, with General Goita continuing as interim president.
A decree was read on national television by the secretary-general of the presidency. Alfouseyni Diawara read the 3-article text signed by the president of the transition Gel Assimi Goïta.
Appointed by the military in 2021 following Mali’s second coup in a year, Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maïga publicly criticized the junta on November 16 during events marking the November 2023 recapture of Kidal. Dressed in military attire despite being a civilian, Maïga voiced frustration over his exclusion from key decisions, particularly regarding the timeline for the nation’s political transition.
Demonstrators in the capital and many cities in the country have called for Maiga’s resignation.
A section of the Malian military known as the Collective of military defense (CDM) is accusing Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maïga of “treason” and “denunciation” following his criticism of the ruling generals.
Maiga, a former minister and presidential candidate, was appointed prime minister after the second coup. He came to be seen as the civilian face of the junta’s strategic pivot away from former colonial power France and toward closer political and military ties with Russia.
But he began to distance himself from the junta in recent months, becoming more and more isolated and prompting months-long speculation that he could be dismissed.
“The duties of the prime minister and the members of the government are terminated,” read a decree issued by General Goita and read out on state broadcaster ORTM.
