The Malian soldiers who forced President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to resign in a coup said on Wednesday that “social and political tension has undermined the proper functioning of the country for quite a while”.
In a statement carried overnight on state broadcaster ORTM, the mutinous soldiers behind Tuesday’s military coup identified themselves as the National Committee for the Salvation of the People led by Colonel-Major Ismael Wagué.
Wagué added: “Real democracy doesn’t go with complacency, nor weakness of the state authority which must guarantee freedom and security of the people.”
Mali’s president announced his resignation late Tuesday, just hours after armed soldiers seized him from his home in a dramatic power grab following months of protests demanding his removal.