Mali's military rulers formally dissolve political parties

Mali's military government announced on Tuesday that it had dissolved all political parties, approving a recommendation publicised last month that spurred unprecedented protests in the capital, Bamako.

A statement read on state television said the decision had been validated by military leader Assimi Goita, who seized power in the West African country after coups in 2020 and 2021. Last month a national conference of political actors in Mali recommended naming Goita as president with a five-year mandate as well as dissolving the parties.

In protests in Bamako on May 3 and May 4, several hundred critics carried placards displaying messages calling for multi-party elections and chanted slogans such as: "Down with dictatorship, long live democracy."

The junta originally committed to holding elections in February 2022.

Ahead of another planned protest on May 9, Mali suspended political activities across the country, forcing the opposition parties to call off their gathering.

Meanwhile, three opposition politicians are feared to have been abducted in recent days, according to party officials and human rights activists, raising fears of mounting repression.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement last week that Abba Alhassane, secretary-general of the Convergence for the Development of Mali (Codem), was arrested by "masked gunmen claiming to be gendarmes" on May 8. The group also said "unidentified men" seized El Bachir Thiam, leader of the Yelema party, in the town of Kati outside Bamako on the same day.

On Tuesday a member of Codem, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, told Reuters that the party had not heard from Abdoul Karim Traore, a party youth leader, for two days and feared he had been abducted too.

Mali's security ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Reuters