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To Halt Mali Unrest, ECOWAS Calls for 31 MPs to Resign

Bagassi Koura

   The leaders of West Africa's ECOWAS bloc concluded a summit on Mali by
   calling for the immediate resignations of 31 parliamentarians whose
   contested elections in March triggered the country's political crisis.

   The 15 heads of state, meeting online Monday, did not request the
   resignation of embattled Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
   Instead, in a statement read by Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou,
   the group's chair, they demanded an array of reforms aimed at restoring
   peace in the country.

   The recommendations issued by ECOWAS give both sides ample room to
   claim victory and save face.

   First, the resignations would include that of the speaker. The
   statement suggested parliament should be able to function with its
   remaining 116 members.

   Second, the leaders ordered "a rapid and total overhaul" of the
   constitutional court, as well as establishment of a power-sharing
   agreement under "a government of national unity" with Keita at the helm
   but with the opposition and civil society included.

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