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The African Union urged Mali on Saturday to present a post-coup transition ‘roadmap’, stating that the measure was necessary to return the country to democratic government.
Earlier this week, Mali’s military junta ordered the suspension of all political activity, citing the need to protect public order. The African Union expressed “grave concern” over the measure, stating that it was likely to impede the return to democracy.
Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga, appointed by the military colonels who deposed President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August 2020, announced Thursday evening that elections will be held only when the country’s urgent security problem has been resolved.
Mali’s government have received internal and international criticism after the military failed to hold the presidential election in February and eventually resigned.
On Thursday, the junta also prohibited media coverage of political parties, as the colonels tightened their grip on opposition in the West African nation.
In a statement, AU chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat voiced “grave concern” about the latest events, adding he was “calling on the authorities to reconsider this decision and work on a road map aiming at completing the ongoing transition process.”
He warned that suspending parties and political groupings would “hinder the implementation of an inclusive transition process in the country”.
The Secretary-General of the African Union stressed “the Organisation’s willingness to work with the transitional authorities and all Malian stakeholders to restore constitutional order, within the prescribed time frame, with a view to promoting lasting peace, stability and development in Mali” .
In June 2021, the group suspended Mali.
Since 2012, Mali has been afflicted by increasing jihadism while facing a significant security, political, and humanitarian catastrophe.
Since assuming power, the junta has pursued a geopolitical reorientation, ending its long alliance with former colonial power France and strengthening military and political ties with Russia.
Under pressure from the regional bloc ECOWAS, the junta vowed to hold elections and return authority to civilians by March 26, but no vote was held.
The United Nations expressed concern on Thursday about the junta’s decision to suspend political activities, and the US State Department echoed that criticism and called for elections.
Last year, the junta ordered the evacuation of the UN stabilisation mission MINUSMA, and in January, it terminated a 2015 peace agreement with separatist parties in the north.
Burkina Faso and Niger, two neighboring Sahel states, also had military coups in 2022 and 2023.
The three countries have all agreed to leave ECOWAS in favour of their own Sahel alliance.
