The military government in Mali, led by Gen. Assimi Goita, has suspended all activities by political parties in the West African state until further n
The military government in Mali, led by Gen. Assimi Goita, has suspended all activities by political parties in the West African state until further notice.
The announcement, which was made on Wednesday, follows a decree signed by President Gen. Assimi Goita, who said it applies to all political associations.
Many Malian activists protested against the decision by the president last week and are expected to continue this week as they demand a return to democratic rule. “Civil society figures, political parties and labour leaders on last Sunday held a press conference to call for “a rapid and credible return to constitutional order through the organisation of transparent, inclusive and peaceful elections.”
“I’m not surprised, 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. We are a people committed to democracy,” Cheick Oumar Doumbia, one of the leaders of the weekend demonstration, said one of the demonstrators.
Mali has been under Goita’s leadership following coups in 2020 and 2021, and last week in Bamako after a national policy conference launched by the Malian military regime recommended naming him as president with a renewable five-year term.
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