Mali’s upcoming July elections will be a defining moment — to unify the country, re-establish democratic institutions and restore the West African country’s territorial integrity.

A local resident passing a mosque in Timbuktu in 2007. Photo: Emilio Labrador
On Saturday, President Dioncounda Traore took the first step in the election process by announcing the formation of a Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission. “This puts the elections back on track,” said Mayor Yeah Samake of Ouelessebougou, a village near the capital, Bamako, and a leading presidential candidate. Mayor Mahamadou Toure of Bourem Sidi-Amar, a village near the northern town of Timbuktu, said, “Politically, we are moving forward.” He noted Mr. Traore’s nomination of Mohamed Salia Sokona, a former defense minister and Malian ambassador to France, to lead the commission.
The commission’s first vice chairman will be Toure Oumou Traore, a leading women’s rights advocate who heads the Association for Women’s Organizations in Mali and a member of the dominant Songhoi ethnic group in northern Mali. The second vice chairman will be customs officer Meti ag Mohamed Rhissa, a member of the minority Tuareg ethnic group. The goal of the commission, which will include 30 community members, is to start a dialogue between the different parties to achieve national unity — leading to free, fair and transparent elections.
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Hollande, Obama and Monticello: When Empires Forgive
It is true that French President François Hollande had been in a touch of bother back home – at least in the relationships department.
President Barack Obama and President François Hollande of France hold a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office, Feb. 11, 2014. Pete Souza/White House
France had been preoccupied with the President’s overactive libido, a petulant figure who was now freed of his First Lady’s presence. French leaders have, in recent years, taken the chance to travel to the New World freed of their spouses or partners – Nicolas Sarkozy did it in 2007 before heading to Washington; and Valérie Trierweiler is conspicuously absent on this visit. That libidinal atmosphere has even rubbed off on one French paparazzo, who claimed that President Barack Obama had also partaken in other affairs of state. On this occasion, the smut searching Pascal Rostain was convinced that Obama and Beyonce Knowles had gotten it on. The Washington Post did not bite, while Le Figaro had a tentative nibble.
The emotional baggage was not, in the state setting, as significant as the statements coming forth from the White House. The official visit has provided a good occasion to reminisce about power – France, faded yet still anxious to pull punches in Africa and the Middle East; the U.S., the gloss removed from its splendour, limping and tilting towards other areas of the globe, notably the Asia Pacific. The continuous theme to this gathering: that mutual trust had been restored between the countries.
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