Malis Military Government Dissolves Political Parties

<b>Malis military junta has dissolved all political parties in the country.</b><br><br><blockquote><b><i>A statement read on state television on Tuesday said the countrys military leader, Assimi Goita, validated the decision.</i></b><br><br><b>Last month, a national conference of political actors in Mali recommended the dissolution of all political parties and the naming of Goita as president with a five-year mandate.</b><br><br>The recommendation led to protests in Bamako on May 3 and May 4, with several hundred critics carrying placards displaying messages calling for multi-party elections.<br><br><br><b>They also chanted slogans like Down with dictatorship, long live democracy.<br><br>Ahead of another protest planned for May 9, Mali suspended political activities across the country.<br></b><br>The move forced opposition groups to cancel the demonstration.<br><br>The dissolution of political parties coincides with reports of disappearances of opposition figures, as human rights groups said several politicians have disappeared in recent days.<br><br><b>On Thursday, Human Rights Watch said in a statement 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.<br></b><br><b>The group also said on the same day, unidentified men seized El Bachir Thiam, leader of the Yelema party, in the town of Kati outside Bamako.<br></b><br>Goita first seized power in August 2020 amid escalating attacks from armed groups affiliated with ISIL (ISIS), and al-Qaedas regional affiliate, Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).<br><br>The junta originally committed to holding elections in February 2022.</blockquote><br><a rel=ugc href="https://punchng.com/malis-military-government-dissolves-political-parties">https://punchng.com/malis-military-government-dissolves-political-parties</a>
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