BAMAKO (Reuters) -Assimi Goita, the Malian colonel who has overthrown two presidents in the past nine months, said he would oversee a transition toward democratic elections as he was sworn in as interim president on Monday.
Goita had already been declared president by the constitutional court last month after ousting Bah Ndaw, but was formally sworn in on Monday during a ceremony in the capital Bamako.
He is under pressure from regional and international powers to ensure elections go ahead next February as scheduled, but his advisers have suggested that timetable could change.
“The situation offers us the opportunity to put the process of transition back in the direction desired by the people,” said Goita, who had traded his camouflage fatigues for a dark gray officer’s uniform and a yellow sash.
He added that he was committed to implementing “the actions necessary for the success of the transition, notably the organisation of credible, fair and transparent elections that are held as scheduled.”
(Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo;Writing by Cooper Inveen and Aaron Ross; Editing by Edmund Blair and Angus MacSwan)
