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320 EPILOGUEadministrative office in Kidal since the colonial conquest. In general, the numberof Kel Tamasheq participating in high administration and in national politicsrose spectacularly. As the representatives (Députés) to the National Assemblyare elected by Cercle, with each Cercle sending one representative, thepromotion of Kidal to Région meant that the Adagh could now send fourinstead of one representative. A number of Kel Tamasheq men and women roseto the ranks of ministers in various governments, such as Mohamed ag Eghlafand Zakiatou wellet Haltanine. The rise in participation culminated in theappointment of Mohamed Ahmed ag Hamani, a Kel Intessar pupil of theGoundam école nomade, as Prime Minister in 2002. The essence of the Maliandecentralisation rested in the creation of a parallel structure of Communeswithin and next to the administrative structure of the Cercles. While theCommandant de Cercle remained an appointed administrator, he now lost partof his powers to the democratically elected counsellors of the Commune, whoelect a Mayor from their midst. However, in most of the Far North in Mali, thepower of the Commandant had been mitigated for a long time and remained soafter the administrative reforms. Kidal had been without a Commandant deCercle since 1992, and formally remained without one until 1999, the administrativeand political functions being performed by the Adjoint de Commandantin the intermediate period. The upscaling of the Cercle of Kidal to a Région,meant that its Arrondissements were promoted to the ranks of Cercles, with theCentral Arrondissement of Kidal now becoming a Cercle too. Each new Cerclewas now endowed with its proper Commandant. These new Commandants hadno administrative means at their disposal to start with, and for the most timeresided in Kidal City, or further down South. In practice, administration camemore firmly in the hands of the tribal chiefs than ever before. They were nowinformally responsible even for civil peace and policing, which they did manumilitary in alliance with the former rebel officers, but of course within theparameters of local politics. However, they did have to answer to Bamako to acertain degree. When local disputes became too violent, it rested with Intalla agAttaher, together with the other tribal chiefs, and Iyad ag Ghali, together withhis trusted men, to ‘mediate’ and restore some form of order. Georg Klute haslabelled this arrangement ‘parasovereignity’, by which he means the replacementof the formal state by traditional political institutions and modern NGOs,which perform the state functions of delivering safety and social services respectively.The appropriateness of the term ‘sovereignty’ is questionable (giventhe classical definition of sovereignty) but the description is of course accurate.1010Klute, G. 1999; Klute, G. & T. von Trotha 2000.