A national conference of political stakeholders in Mali has proposed appointing junta leader Assimi Goita as president for a five-year term.
- A national conference in Mali has proposed appointing junta leader Assimi Goita as president for a five-year term
- Participants also called for dissolution of existing political parties and stricter requirements for forming new ones
- Mali has been under military rule since August 2020, following a wave of coups in West and Central Africa
- The military leader, Assimi Goita, has delayed elections multiple times, focusing on tackling the enduring insurgency in northern and central regions.
A national conference of political stakeholders in Mali has proposed appointing junta leader Assimi Goita as president for a five-year term.
The recommendation came after a political dialogue held in the capital, Bamako, where participants also called for the dissolution of all existing political parties and stricter requirements for forming new ones.
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The recommendations are expected to be implemented in the coming days.
Mali’s governance
Mali has been under military rule since August 2020, part of a wave of coups that have swept West and Central Africa in recent years, including in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Under pressure from international partners and the U.N. Security Council, the Malian junta initially agreed to cede power to a civilian-led interim government with elections scheduled for February 2022.
However, after tensions with the interim president, the military reversed course and abandoned the transition plan.
Goita, 41, who led both coups in 2020 and 2021, was elevated to five-star general in October 2024. He has served as Mali’s transitional president since 2021.
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Despite repeated promises to hold elections, the military has delayed the process multiple times. In April last year, the junta suspended all political party activities and “associations of a political nature” for about three months before lifting the ban in July.
The leadership has been focused on tackling the enduring insurgency in Mali’s northern and central regions, where jihadist groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaeda have maintained a stronghold for over a decade.
