Mali: Elections

(asked on 5th January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support (a) the Economic Community of West African States and (b) civil society groups in Mali to secure an effective and timely timetable for free and fair elections in Mali.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 11th January 2022

The UK has consistently called for elections and a return to constitutional rule in line with the conditions set out by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). I made this clear in my statement on 29 September 2021, and the UK Government has again reiterated its position in the joint statement with international partners, on 23 December 2021, concerning the deployment of Wagner Group in Mali.

We have supported ECOWAS mediation efforts at the UN Security Council and in Ministerial and senior official meetings with the Malian transitional government. The UK's Minister for the Armed Forces and our Global Ambassador for Human Rights raised the need for elections during their visits to Mali in November 2021. Our Embassies across the West African region are in regular touch with their host governments and with the ECOWAS commission on political developments in Mali, and I had a call with ECOWAS President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou to discuss Mali in November 2021. Our Embassy in Bamako often speaks with civil society to seek their views on a range of issues affecting the country, including the political uncertainty, insecurity, humanitarian crisis, human rights situation and women's rights.

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