Malian opposition politicians announced on Saturday they had established a government in exile to challenge the current government, which has been ruled by the military since a 2020 coup.
It was the latest move by the civilian opposition after Mali's military junta failed to meet a March deadline to hold elections and hand over power to a civilian government.
“The Civil Transitional Civic Assembly today elected the members of the government,” said a statement dated Geneva and signed by the assembly's speaker, exiled Malian politician Adamane Traore.
This “civilian transition is the only legitimate transition of power in Mali,” the document states.
The report lists Mohamed Cherif Kone as one of several exiled politicians named as members, as prime minister and minister of defense in a rival government.
The announcement came a day after the political movement backing Mali's military-appointed civilian prime minister, Choguel Kokara Maiga, publicly criticised the junta for the first time.
AFP could not confirm whether Maiga supported this position or Saturday's statement by the rival administration.
The colonels who run the military junta have maintained a firm grip on power by halting all political activity and silencing dissidents, journalists and human rights activists.
Mali has been in the grip of a political and security crisis since 2012, due to attacks by jihadists and other armed groups, as well as a separatist fight in the north.
