Mali’s descent into full blown dictatorship must not stand

In a move clearly and widely seen as an attempt to perpetuate itself in power against the express wishes of the people, the ruling military Junta in Mali led by General Assimi Goita has been granted another five-year presidential mandate to extend its stay in power. The country’s transitional parliament gave this approval after a […]

In a move clearly and widely seen as an attempt to perpetuate itself in power against the express wishes of the people, the ruling military Junta in Mali led by General Assimi Goita has been granted another five-year presidential mandate to extend its stay in power. The country’s transitional parliament gave this approval after a bill was passed. The president of the National Transitional Council (NTC) Malick Diaw who made the announcement stated that this could be “renewed as many times as necessary” without requiring an election.  According to him, “This is a major step in the rebuilding of Mali”, adding that  “the adoption of this text is in accordance with the popular will.” 

This is the latest in the series of actions that the junta had taken in its designs towards systematically dismantling the country’s civil and democratic space. Before this latest action, the junta had proscribed political parties and their activities.

As expected, the move by the military government of Assimi Goita has elicited strong protests by pro-democracy groups in Mali. But these attempts by opposition elements who dared to speak out against the draconian measures of the junta, have led to their arrests and detention or being exiled.

The on-going brutal crackdown in Mali signals a worrying retrogression of the political situation not only in Mali, but potentially also in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, both of whom are ruled by similar military regimes.

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In our previous editorial on the subject, we pointed out that essentially, military regimes are contradictory and unstable in nature. From our experiences, when the military seize power, their first inclination is to suspend the constitution and restrict the guaranteed rights of individuals and groups to freedom of speech and association. By their command structure and operational modus, we warned that military regimes, no matter their claims to being benevolent and patriotic, often do not tolerate lawful dissent for long. We also cautioned that because they are illegal, opportunistic and conspiratorial, military regimes are prone to counter coups by elements within the military that may differ and want to overthrow their colleagues.

It is sad to note that all these elements which we brought attention to have been manifest in the Mali junta.

In this regard, it is also not surprising that our worst fears and those of many in Mali and beyond have come to the fore with the latest developments in the country.

After being in power now for five years, it is now clear to all that the Mali junta, having lost all excuses to justify its illegal seizure of power, has now decided to dig in. Within the time it has been in power, the junta has reneged on its promise to arrange a transition to civil rule by 2024 as demanded by civil society groups.  

Going by this, General Goita, who has been in power since his first coup in 2020 and a subsequent one in 2021, will rule till 2030. This is a path to full dictatorship which is not what the people of Mali expected from a military government it welcomed initially in the hope that it will restore democracy in no time. It is therefore  in the full knowledge and realisation that this betrayal of people’s will, will be resisted by democratic forces in Mali that the junta has decided to embark on the unhelpful and unacceptable crackdown of the opposition. An additional cause for concern here is that the two neighbouring states of Burkina Faso and Niger, both ruled by military juntas as in Mali, have also shown tendencies of following the same path thereby establishing a belt of undemocratic regimes in the Sahel region of West Africa with all the negative consequences this entails to the entire sub-region.  

Accordingly, we in the Daily Trust add our voice to those calling on the ruling military junta in Mali to desist from its current path. We believe this can only lead to further problems in a country that is already grappling with existential political, economic and security challenges which have tasked its limited resources. Already, there is growing tension in the country as opposition have been defying the military government to protest the measures which is bound to grow in the coming weeks and months thereby exacerbating the situation. The palpable loss of confidence between the people of Mali and the ruling junta will likely result in further instability which will not do the country any good in the short and long runs.

As the Mali along with Burkina Faso and Niger have exited the ECOWAS, it is left to the African Union (AU) to wade into the matter with a view to persuading the military regime to pull back from its undemocratic path and begin the process of return to civilian rule in the country without further delay.