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08-05-2025
BAMAKO: Mali’s military government has suspended the activities of political parties “until further notice”, days after a rare pro-democracy rally.
The decree signed on Wednesday by the transitional president, General Assimi Goita, cited “reasons of public order” and covered all “associations of a political character”, according to state media.
It was issued a week after authorities announced the repeal of a law governing the operation of political parties, a decision interpreted by legal experts as a step towards their dissolution.
In response, a coalition of dozens of parties formed to “demand the effective end of the political-military transition no later than December 31” as well as a return to constitutional order.
On Saturday, the new coalition mobilized several hundred people to protest in the capital, Bamako, against the military government’s move. Another protest had been expected later this week.
Cheick Oumar Doumbia, one of the leaders of the weekend demonstration, said he was “not surprised” by the decree.
“I expected this because this is their way of preventing us from carrying out our activities, but we will continue to defend democracy in Mali,” he told The Associated Press news agency. “We are a people committed to democracy.”
Goita seized power after coups in 2020 and 2021. Last week, a national political conference said he should be installed as president for a renewable five-year term.
In 2024, the authorities had already suspended the activities of political parties for three months.
Mali has experienced two coups since 2020, during a wave of political instability that has swept across West and Central Africa. The country has battled a worsening insurgency by jihadi groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group for over a decade. Col. Assimi Goita, who took charge after a second coup in 2021, promised to return the country to democracy in early 2024. But in September, the junta canceled elections scheduled for February 2024 indefinitely, citing the need for further technical preparations.
The United States said it was “deeply concerned” by the development.
“Freedom of expression and freedom of association are critical to an open society,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington. “The transition government has already made a decision not to hold an election in February, 2024, to return to a civilian-led democratic government despite the commitment that it made publicly in 2022 to do so.”
“We call on Mali’s transition government to honor its commitments to its citizens and hold free and fair elections,” Miller said. “In Mali and elsewhere, democracy remains the best foundation for stability and prosperity.”
Analysts said the move was likely a backlash against political figures, civil society and students who have expressed frustration with the junta’s repeated moves to delay the nation’s transition back to democratic rule.
“Recent weeks saw mounting pressure by political parties and figures,” Rida Lyammouri of the Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank, told The Associated Press. “For the first time, the public and politicians have publicly criticized junta leaders and accused them of a lack of seriousness.”
Mali previously relied on French troops to help push back the insurgents. Amid growing frustration over the lack of progress, the ruling junta ordered French troops out and turned to Russian contractors instead for security support. (Int’l News Desk)
