Mali’s military junta, Assimi Goita, has officially dissolved all political parties in the country.
A statement announcing the decision was read on state television on Tuesday, confirming that the move was validated by the country’s military leader, Assimi Goita.
The decision follows recommendations made last month during a national conference of political stakeholders in Mali. The forum had called for the dissolution of all political parties and the appointment of Goita as president with a five-year mandate.
The recommendation sparked protests in the capital, Bamako, on May 3 and 4, where hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets carrying placards calling for multi-party elections.
Protesters chanted slogans such as “Down with dictatorship, long live democracy.”
Ahead of another planned protest on May 9, the Malian government suspended all political activities nationwide, forcing opposition groups to cancel the demonstration.
The dissolution of political parties comes amid growing concerns about the disappearance of opposition figures. Human rights groups say several political leaders have gone missing in recent days.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Human Rights Watch reported that Abba Alhassane, secretary-general of the Convergence for the Development of Mali (CODEM), was arrested on May 8 by “masked gunmen claiming to be gendarmes”.
The group also said that on the same day, “unidentified men” seized El Bachir Thiam, leader of the Yelema party, in the town of Kati, near Bamako.
Goita first came to power in August 2020 through a military coup, citing worsening insecurity from armed groups linked to ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).
The junta had originally promised to hold elections in February 2022.
— AFP
