Military leader gets backing for five-year Presidency

Mali's military leader General Assimi Goïta has won the backing of key political allies to be declared President for the next five years, reports BBC News. The 41-year-old, who has seized power twice, was named transitional President after his last coup in 2021. At the time he promised to hold elections the following year – but has since reneged, in a blow to efforts to restore multi-party rule in the West African state. A national conference organised by the regime – but boycotted by leading opposition parties – has now recommended naming Goïta President until 2030. He has not yet commented on the recommendation, but the conference was seen as an attempt to legitimise his bid to remain in power. Last weekend, an opposition leader, Mohamed Salia Touré, told AFP that suppressing the multi-party system would be a ‘historic error’. On Wednesday, Amnesty International denounced what it described as a ‘proposal to dissolve all political parties in Mali’. The rights group's Sahel researcher, Ousmane Diallo, said he was ‘alarmed by the proposition’ and that such a move ‘would be a flagrant attack on the rights to freedom of expression and association’. It is unclear if the conference proposes to dissolve all political parties, or only those that fail to comply with certain requirements. The conference also recommended suspending anything to do with elections until there was peace in the country, according to a document seen by AFP. The military government has been trying to quell jihadist violence unleashed by groups linked with the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. Since taking power, the junta leader has formed an alliance with coup leaders in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, pivoting the region towards Russia after drastically reducing ties with former colonial power France. Goïta has also withdrawn Mali from Ecowas.

Full BBC News report