Mali’s military junta suspended the activities of political parties on Wednesday to create “a climate of calm rather than bustle” that would strengthen “national cohesion weakened by a decade of uncertainty.” In the statement, the Ministry of Territorial Administration assured that with this measure it wanted to create “the conditions for the implementation of the transition activities, in particular the Intermal Dialogue for Peace and National Reconciliation”.
As the country celebrated Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, the executive branch spokesman said: Abdoulaye Maigaconveyed to the presidents of the various political parties and associations whose activities were suspended that “the safe return to constitutional order is one of the priorities” of the government led by Colonel Assimi Goita.
The measure was taken immediately after 80 parties and associations in the country declared their support for democratic elections. The organizations spoke out on March 26 after the last two years to begin the transition to democracy set by the junta, which has been in power since 2020 after a coup.
Mali’s government has not indicated how or when it plans to carry out the trial. The last measure in this regard dates back to September 2023, when the country announced another postponement of the presidential elections scheduled for February 2024, citing technical problems.
The political blockade is followed by the media blockade. Less than 24 hours after the suspension, Goita’s government has gone a step further and called on the media to stop “all dissemination and publication of the activities of political parties and political activities of associations.”
In a press release, the High Authority for Communications (HAC), under the Prime Minister’s Office, “invites” the media, both radio, television and print and digital newspapers, to stop broadcasting in view of the decree approved by the Prime Minister military junta suspends party activities.
The United Nations described the military junta’s recent actions as “worrying.” “These are worrying developments, both in the political area and in the area of press freedom,” emphasized the spokesman for the Secretary General. Stephane Dujarric. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, Mali’s military junta has “increasingly repressed peaceful dissent, political opposition and the media, restricting the country’s civic space.”
The African country has suffered two coups since 2020 after battling an insurgency by jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State for more than a decade. The rise to power of Colonel Assimi Goita, who seized the country’s reins after a second coup in 2021, triggered a wave of political instability that has spread across the Sahel.