Mali’s junta on Wednesday suspended political parties’ activities “until further notice for reasons of public order”, as the opposition protests against the military government’s ramped-up crackdown on dissent.

Read out on national television and radio, the decree comes ahead of a rally called for Friday by parties critical of the junta against their dissolution, as well as for a return to constitutional order in the insecurity-ridden Sahel nation.

All “associations of a political character” were covered in the decree signed by junta leader General Assimi Goita and broadcast on national television.

The latest measure constitutes a new act of repression of dissenting voices along with a shrinking of civic space in the west African country, ruled by the military since two coups, in 2020 and 2021.

On April 30, authorities announced the repeal of a law governing the operation of political parties, a decision which legal experts interpreted as a step towards their dissolution.

Fearing that, a coalition of roughly one hundred parties formed to “demand the effective end of the political-military transition no later than December 31, 2025” and call for “the establishment of a timetable for a rapid return to constitutional order.”

The new coalition mobilised several hundred people during a demonstration last Saturday in Bamako.

That constituted a rare act of protest since the junta came to power.

In 2024, the authorities had already suspended the activities of political parties for three months.

AFP