Mali: over 80 parties, civil groups demand elections after junta failed to transfer power on 26 March

More than 80 political parties and civil groups in Mali, repressed by the ruling junta, have united to issue a rare call for an end to the transitional military rule and demanded a presidential election to be held “as soon as possible”.
The current junta leadership in Mali, which seized power in a military coup in March 2022, had promised to restore civilian rule in 24 months but is still yet to organize polls. Political parties in the Sahel country have now called on the military administration to set a time frame for presidential elections after failing to organize polls within a promised 24-month transition back to democracy. Mali has been under military rule since August 2020, the first of eight coups in West and Central Africa over four years, including in the neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
The West African country has been ruled by a junta since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, with the security situation worsened by a humanitarian and political crisis. In June 2022, the junta leader, Colonel Assimi Goita, had promised that the military would transfer power back to civilians on 26 March 2024 at the end of a transition period after a presidential election in February. The election was postponed, however, and the junta leadership gave no explanation as to what its intentions were. One group consisting of political parties and civil organizations has now called on the junta “to create the conditions for rapid and inclusive dialogue, for the establishment of an institutional architecture and with immediate effect organize a presidential election”.