4 Killed in Protests Calling for Mali’s President to Resign
Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 10:53 amBAMAKO - Mali’s president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has dissolved the country’s constitutional court, after four people were killed in street protests over the weekend.
FILE - Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita poses for a picture during the G5 Sahel summit in Nouakchott, Mauritania, June 30, 2020.
Additionally, Keita said Sunday he would follow ECOWAS recommendations to re-run some contested legislative elections held in March.
Opposition leaders said that Keita’s concessions, including dissolving the constitutional court, was not enough to appease them and that they would not stop until he stepped down, Reuters reported.
Protesters have been calling for Keita, in power since 2013, to step down amid criticism for failing to end a long-running jihadist insurgency and improve the African country’s economic woes.
Video taken in the capital, Bamako, by VOA’s Bambara service on Friday shows a crowd of demonstrators estimated at tens of thousands assembled outside the national assembly building, demanding that Keita step down.
National guardsmen also reportedly fired tear gas at protesters throwing rocks at the parliament building.
Protesters were seen building barricades with burning tires to block a main road.
Groups of protesters were also seen trying to take over two main bridges in the city, leading to battles with the police.
This was the third mass protest in Bamako in the past two months. In addition to contested elections, protesters are unhappy with Keita’s handling of the country’s economic crisis and long-running jihadist conflict.