Bamako [Mali], July 12: Mali's transitional military government said on Thursday that it would allow political parties to resume operations after a three-month suspension.
The government, spearheaded by Interim President Assimi Goïta, suspended political parties' activities in April after a coalition of parties and civil society organizations called for democratic elections and threatened legal action.
The suspension was announced in April, days before the start of a national dialogue for peace in the Sahelian nation that has been battling a jihadist insurgency for over a decade and has been under military rule since August 2020.
"By taking this deterrent measure, the government was able to contain all the threats of public disorder that hung over this major event," the council said in a statement.
Given the focus was now on implementing the recommendations of the April 13-May 10 peace dialogue, the government will allow political parties to resume their activities, it said.
Goïta's military administration seized power in a coup d'etat in 2021. It postponed a presidential election last scheduled for February 2024 "for technical reasons" without setting a new date.
Goïta had justified the suspension by citing the political parties' "sterile discussions" and "subversion", which he said posed a danger to an ongoing national "dialogue" on the political future of Mali.
Political parties and civil society groups at the time reacted with anger to the junta's decision not to hold the vote and called for a return to constitutional order.
The main parties and what remains of the opposition boycotted the "dialogue", which went ahead anyway with supporters of the regime, who in May issued "recommendations" that the military remain in power "for two to five additional years", and that the current head of the junta be allowed to run in any future presidential elections.
Since the coup, the Malian army has systematically distanced itself from European partners such as its former colonizer France, instead increasingly relying on Russian mercenary groups for support.
The military government also pressured the UN's stabilization mission in Mali (MINUSMA) to end its work in the country in late 2023.
There have been eight coups in West and Central Africa since one in August 2020 in Mali, including neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger, which are fighting the same groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.
Source: Qatar Tribune
