Mali gets new government after protests

AFP  |  Bamako 

Mali's has named a new government after its predecessor resigned last month amid widespread protests over an upsurge of deadly inter-communal violence, a presidency statement said.

Last week, Cisse signed a pact with opposition and majority party representatives in the capital Bamako, declaring their willingness to set up a "politically-inclusive" new government.

Cisse's predecessor Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga and his entire cabinet resigned on April 18 following the massacre of some 160 members of the herding community on March 23 in the village of near Mali's border with

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets on April 5 to protest against an upsurge of that has claimed around 600 lives, and which demonstrators said the government had failed to stop.

The new has as its Tiebile Drame, who led the election campaign of opposition member against Keita in 2018.

Cisse's said it would continue to play a "constructive" opposition role.

The key portfolio of defence went to Ibrahim Dahirou Dembele, former of staff under the junta that emerged from a 2012 coup.

The role of went to Malick Coulibaly, of (CNDH), who has held the post before.

Michel Sidibe, whose tenure at was marred by allegations of serious mismanagement, was appointed health minister, said.

It was not immediately clear whether Sidibe will leave his UN post.

But he had been scheduled to stand down in June following widespread concerns over his conduct in office, including his handling of sexual assault allegations against one of his top deputies.

The new government includes ten women, more than a quarter of the total but fewer than the previous team, which boasted about a third.

Since the appearance of a jihadist group under in central in 2015, recruiting mainly among the Dogon -- a hunting and farming community -- clashes between the Dogon and the nomadic have intensified.

Last week, the said the massacre had been "planned, organised and coordinated" and could constitute a "crime against humanity.

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First Published: Mon, May 06 2019. 20:25 IST