Azawad - Politics

Politics

The MNLA in its declaration of independence announced the first political institutions of the state of Azawad. It included:

• An executive committee, directed by Mahmoud Ag Aghaly.
• A revolutionary council, directed by Abdelkrim Ag Tahar.
• A consultative council, directed by Mahamed Ag Tahadou.
• The general staff of the Liberation Army, directed by Mohamed Ag Najem.

As part of Mali, Azawad did not have a central government, and although the MNLA claimed responsibility for managing the country "until the appointment of a national authority" in their declaration of independence, it has acknowledged the presence of rival armed groups, including Islamist fighters under Ansar Dine, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, in Azawad. The MNLA has yet to establish a formal government, though it has pledged to draft a constitution establishing Azawad as a democracy. The main government building is called the Palace of Azawad by the MNLA. It is a heavily guarded building in central Gao that served as the office of the Gao Region's governor prior to the rebellion.

The military wing of Ansar Dine rejected the MNLA's declaration of independence hours after it was issued. Ansar Dine has vowed to establish Islamic sharia law over all of Mali. At a conference, the Azawadis voiced their disapproval of radical Islamic groups, and asked all foreign fighters to disarm and leave the country.

According to a Chatham House Africa expert, Mali is not to be considered "definitively partitioned". The peoples that constitute a major share of the population of northern Mali, like Songhai and Fulani, would consider themselves to be Malian and have no interest in a separate Tuareg-dominated state. On the day of the declaration of independence, about 200 Malian northerners staged a rally in Bamako, declaring their rejection of the partition and their willingness to fight to drive out the rebels. One day later, a new rally against separatism was joined by 2,000 protesters.

According to Ramtane Lamamra, the African Union's peace and security commissioner, the African Union has discussed sending a military force to reunify Mali and that negotiations with terrorists had been ruled out but negotiations with other armed factions are still open.