Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta has announced the dissolution of the constitutional court in an attempt to calm unrest that saw four people killed in street protests on Friday.
The president said he would not tolerate such violence.
The court has been at the centre of controversy after it overturned provisional results for parliamentary elections in March.
There are growing calls for President Keïta to resign.
Opponents are unhappy with his handling of Mali’s long-running jihadist conflict, an economic crisis and the disputed elections.
A new opposition coalition led by the conservative Imam, Mahmoud Dicko, has been insisting on further reforms after rejecting earlier concessions from the Malian president, including the formation of a unity government.
President Keïta also suggested that he could agree to re-run some of the disputed parliamentary elections, which is one of the protesters’ demands. This was recommended last month by the West African regional bloc, Ecowas.
Four people died in Friday’s protest in the capital Bamako, authorities say.
Speaking earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Boubou Cissé said he and the president were open to talks and promised to form an inclusive government “very quickly”.
“I will put in place a government with the aim of being open to address the challenges of the moment,” he told Radio France International.
But this came as the opposition coalition said security forces detained two of the protest leaders, Choguel Kokala Maïga and Mountaga Tall. Another protest leader, Issa Kaou Djim, was arrested on Friday.
In addition, security forces “came and attacked and ransacked our headquarters”, opposition coalition spokesman Nouhoum Togo said.
On Saturday evening, correspondents described the capital as tense with protesters blocking several roads with barricades. However, numbers were down on Friday’s protests, which forced the state broadcaster off the air.
BBC
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