Mali committed to democracy with election roadmap, says foreign minister

Mali's military government remains committed to a "return to constitutional order" as it seeks to ensure a stable and secure transition, according to Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop.

He highlighted the introduction of a new constitution was brought in last year as the latest step towards civilian government.

"There is no obstacle in that regard. But all this process must be able to be contextualized in order to take into account the real situation on the ground and also to avoid any turning back," he added.

Mali has faced significant territorial loss amid a decade-long insurgency by rebel and terrorist groups, which Diop linked to NATO's intervention in Libya. He said his country was having to spend almost a quarter of its budget on security to restore state control.

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"I think that it is all of these elements that Malians and our partners should be able to integrate. The state's commitment to democracy, the commitment to the return to constitutional order, is in no way called into question," Diop stated.

Meanwhile, the diplomat was keen to stress the continued strengthening of its international partnerships, particularly with China. Highlighting the deep-rooted relationship between the two nations, Diop stated China had been "a traditional partner of Mali since the first years of our country's independence."

"We have converging views on issues related to our countries' independence, our respect for each other's sovereignty, for our territorial integrity, and the unity of our countries," he added. It was vital, he said, to maintain "excellent relationships with China, whether on the issue of education, health, capacity building, or infrastructure financing."

Diop also stressed China's role in helping Malian security. "We've seen that the World Bank and a lot of financing institutions over the past decades haven't invested enough in security. And China has really made it possible to put infrastructure funding back at the heart of our partnership - the roads, bridges, factories that also allow us to transform our production as we are doing in the sugar sector."

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