Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) mediator – Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan, says he is confident Mali’s post-coup interim administration will hand over power back to civilians within the agreed 18-month deadline.

Jonathan arrived in Mali’s capital Bamako on Monday for a two-day visit following increasing questions over the post-coup government’s ability to reform the constitution and hold elections within a year. Jonathan held meetings with political and civil-society figures.

He said “we believe that the transitional government will be able to conclude everything that it is set up to do within the 18 months.”

The west African regional group, ECOWAS, has charged Mali to quickly prepare its plan for elections to replace the transitional government.

ECOWAS delegation, which has just finished a two-day mission to Mali, urged all parties to engage in more dialogue so as to “guarantee peace and stability in the country.”

When the transitional government was set up five weeks after the takeover its role was to prepare the country for to the return to civilian rule within 18 months – and as a consequence ECOWAS lifted sanctions imposed in the aftermath of the coup.

The delegation also commented on a recent alleged attempt to destabilize the transition, which has led to the arrests of several civilians.

It urged the authorities to ensure their cases were dealt with fairly under the law.

The mission will report on its visit and make recommendations to the region’s heads of state at a summit in a few weeks.

Army officers ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on august 18, after weeks of protests fuelled by frustrations over his failure to tackle the eight-year conflict, as well as perceived corruption. ECOWAS then placed sanctions on Mali, which were lifted in October after the military junta handed power to the caretaker civilian government, which is meant to rule for 18 months before staging democratic elections. But figures with army links still have influence over the coalition.

Coup leader Assimi Goita was appointed interim vice president, for example. And the interim president, Bah Ndaw — a civilian — was an army officer before retiring from the military.

Ndaw nonetheless pledged on December 31 to return Mali to civilian rule on schedule.

Jonathan is expected to meet both Ndaw and Goita during his visit, according to a programme published by ECOWAS.