The president and prime minister of Mali were ousted by the officer who led last year’s coup and became vice-president of an interim government.
Colonel Assimi Goïta said that President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane had failed in their duties and were seeking to sabotage the country’s transition.
They were arrested hours after a government reshuffle that saw the replacement of two senior army officers.
Col Goïta declared that the elections will be held as planned for the year 2022.
But rejects calls from the head of the UN, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the EU and the United States that the president and the Prime Minister be released without any preconditions.
The two men have been held in a military camp outside the capital, Bamako, since their arrest Monday evening.