Recall that the Malian leadership had previously proposed to extend the transition period by five (5) years, even though ECOWAS had requested that elections be held in February 2022. This led to severe sanctions from the West African regional bloc.
In a new development, the country's lawmakers passed a bill on Monday, February 21, 2022, allowing the military government to extend the transition period by the proposed five years.
The government also said that parliament included a clause in the bill that prohibits current interim chief Assimi Goita from running for office after the approved period expires.
When the bill was first presented, ECOWAS imposed tough sanctions on the West African country and the coup plotters. The regional bloc instructed member states to close all land and air borders with Mali, suspend nonessential financial transactions, and freeze Malian state assets in ECOWAS central and commercial banks.
The sanctions trickled down to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), which also ordered all financial institutions under its umbrella to suspend the country with immediate effect.
However, the junta's lawyers filed a lawsuit against the UEMOA on February 15, 2022, seeking the lifting of the UEMOA sanctions and the suspension of their implementation. The lawyers base their lawsuit on the negative impact on citizens.