Five political-military groups who make up the Coordination of Movements of Azawad (CMA) yesterday refused to sign a peace proposal as introduced by the Algerian mediation three weeks ago, which was accepted by the government of Mali. But the CMA said that the text is a "good basis" to pursue further negotiations, and asked "a meeting with the mediation and international partners involved" in order to "improve" the text and to agree how the peace process could be pushed forward.

The CMA announced this after days of consultations and meetings with their members and their bases. "From the opinion expressed by the different communities of Azawad," the CMA statement reads, it is concluded that the Algerian proposal "does not take into account the essential elements of the legitimate aspirations of the people of Azawad."

The CMA is made up of five groups. Three of them are mainly Tuareg: the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA, secular), the High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA, Islamist) and the People's Coalition of Azawad (CPA, secular). One of them is mostly Arab, the Arab Movement of Azawad (MAA), and the other is mostly Peul and Songhai, the Coordination of Movements and Patriotic Resistance Fronts-2 (CMFPR-2).

MNLA representative in Europe Moussa Ag Assarid told Reuters that the CMA commissions that have examined the proposed agreement recommended "not to sign the document" because they believe "it can not bring peace" to Azawad.

The CMA took this decision despite pressure from Algeria, France and the Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which argued that the negotiation process was now over and there was no alternative to signing the document.

Decentralization, federalism or independence

The agreement accepted by the government of Mali foresees decentralization across the country by means of the creation of autonomous assemblies, which should be granted some degree of unspecified autonomy and receive up to 30% of the state budget. It is also acknowledged that Azawad exists as "a human, sociocultural, memorial and symbolic reality shared by different populations of the north," but without any common institution of self-government.

Conversely, the CMA -and most specifically the MNLA- wants Mali to become a federal state where Azawad is recognized as a legal and political entity enjoying a high degree of autonomy. The CPA and the HCUA say they accept autonomy with further powers than those provided by the Algerian proposal, but only provided that Mali accepts Azawad as a political entity. HCUA Spokesman Almou ag Mohamed says that northern regional autonomies as foreseen under the Algerian document should be grouped under a single Azawadi government.

Meanwhile, demonstrations have been witnessed in Kidal and other Azawadi towns for the last three weeks asking the CMA not to accept the Algerian proposal. In some of them, independence for Azawad -which was the starting stance of the MNLA when it launched its 2012 rebellion- has been demanded.

(Image: Azawadi demonstration in Kidal / picture from @arabthomness account.)