NEWS– The Military Government of Mali has today announced the suspension of the activities of all political parties until further notice, days after a rare pro-democracy rally.
The decree to suspend the Political Parties Activities was today May 7th 2025 signed by the transitional President General Assimi Goita, who cited ‘reasons of public order’ and said that the suspension covered all “associations of a political character”.
The suspension has been issued a week after authorities announced the repeal of a law governing the operation of political parties, a decision interpreted by legal experts as a step towards their dissolution.
In response, a coalition of dozens of Political Parties formed a pressure group to demand the effective end of the political-military transition no later than December 31st 2025 as well as a return to constitutional order.
The new coalition mobilised several hundred people to protest in the capital, Bamako, on Saturday against the military government’s move to entrench its authority and another protest had been expected later this week.
One of the leaders of the weekend demonstration, Cheick Oumar Doumbia, said he was not surprised by the decree from the Military Government.
“I expected this because this is their way of preventing us from carrying out our activities, but we will continue to defend democracy in Mali,” Doumbia told journalists and added, “We are a people committed to democracy,”.
Gen Goita seized power after coups in 2020 and 2021, but last week, a national political conference said he should be installed as President for a renewable five-year term because in 2024, the authorities had already suspended the activities of political parties for some months.
