Mali\u2019s military junta has dissolved all political parties in the country amid a growing crackdown on dissent since the army seized power.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll meetings of members of political parties and organisations of a political character are dissolved across the national territory,\u201d a statement read on state TV on Tuesday said.<\/p>\n
The decision was validated by military leader Assimi Go\u00efta, who seized power after coups in 2020 and 2021 and is due to stay in power for at least another five years despite pledges to hold elections.<\/p>\n
The move is expected to spark fresh resistance by political parties who have been demanding the country returns to democratic rule.<\/p>\n
Since last year, the military authorities have intensified a crackdown on political activity.<\/p>\n
Last week, following a rare pro-democracy protest, two opposition leaders were abducted by armed men saying they were police officers. The authorities have not commented on the reported arrests.<\/p>\n
A national conference organised by the regime \u2013 but boycotted by leading opposition parties \u2013 last month recommended naming Gen Go\u00efta as president until 2030.<\/p>\n
The move sparked condemnation from opposition figures and human rights groups. The junta originally committed to holding elections in February 2022.<\/p>\n
The presidential decree read on Tuesday evening warned Malians not to ignore the dissolution of political parties but did not outline any penalties.<\/p>\n
It said that anyone working in a political or administrative role could \u201ccontinue their duties without party affiliation\u201d.<\/p>\n
The main opposition coalition is yet to comment but one of its members, Nouhoum Togo, downplayed the move in a social media post.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter how hard they try to make you invisible, your value doesn\u2019t depend on their recognition,\u201d Togo, president of the Union for the Safeguarding of the Republic (USR) party, posted.<\/p>\n
The latest order follows the suspension of all political activity \u2013 another recommendation from the national conference \u2013 which sparked uproar from the opposition.<\/p>\n
A coalition of a hundred parties had planned a protest against the transitional authorities last week but postponed it following the suspension of political activities.<\/p>\n
Since taking power, the junta leader has formed an alliance with coup leaders in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, pivoting the region towards Russia after drastically reducing ties with former colonial power France.<\/p>\n
Gen Go\u00efta has also withdrawn Mali from the regional grouping Ecowas over its demands to restore democratic rule. Burkina Faso and Niger have also left the grouping.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mali\u2019s military junta has dissolved all political parties in the country amid a growing crackdown on dissent since the army seized power. \u201cAll meetings of members of political parties and organisations of a political character are dissolved across the national territory,\u201d a statement read on state TV on Tuesday said. The decision was validated by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115032\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}