Mali’s military government of Colonel Assimi Goita has dissolved all political parties and associations, following days of rare protests and mounting allegations of forced disappearances of opposition figures.
The decision was announced in a televised statement on Tuesday and personally validated by Goita, who took power through coups in 2020 and 2021.
It marks the latest move by the junta to tighten its grip on power after suspending all political activities last week, Al Jazeera reports.
The suspension came ahead of planned demonstrations for Friday, forcing opposition groups to cancel the protest.
Earlier protests on May 3 and 4 had seen demonstrators carry placards reading, “Down with dictatorship, long live democracy,” in one of the few public displays of resistance since the military takeover.
Tensions escalated in April after a national conference proposed extending Goita’s presidency until 2030, a recommendation condemned by opposition leaders and human rights organisations.
Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that Abba Alhassane, secretary-general of the Convergence for the Development of Mali (CODEM), was “arrested” by “masked gunmen”.
On the same day, El Bachir Thiam, leader of the Yelema party, was reportedly seized by unidentified men in Kati, near the capital, Bamako.
A member of CODEM told Reuters on Tuesday, under condition of anonymity, that the party had lost contact with Abdoul Karim Traore, a youth leader, and feared he too had been abducted.
Malian authorities have made no official comments regarding any of the disappearances.
Goita initially seized power in August 2020 after a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests against the former civilian leadership, during which at least 14 people were killed.
He launched a second coup in May 2021, removing the transitional civilian government.
In December 2024, Human Rights Watch reported that Malian soldiers, alongside Russian Wagner Group fighters, “deliberately killed” at least 32 civilians and burned more than 100 homes in central and northern Mali.
