Hope for the politics of Mali
If we go back to 1300, the Mali Empire covered an area about twice the size of modern France and stretched to the west coast of Africa. In the late 19th century, during the colonisation of Africa, France seized control of Mali, making it a part of French Sudan. French Sudan joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly after, following Senegal's withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state.
In 2012, an armed coup broke out in northern Mali, in which rebels took control of a territory in the north, and in April declared a new state called Azawad. Malian displeased with the management of the rebellion, attacked several locations in the capital Bamako. This included the presidential palace, state television and military barracks. This coup declared that they had overthrown the government of Amadou Toumani Toure, forcing him into hiding. It was followed however by unanimous international condemnation, harsh sanctions by Mali's neighbours and the loss of northern Mali to Tuareg forces. With the impact of the sanctions and deteriorating situation of the northern territory, the junta agreed to a deal mediated by the Economic Community of West African States that would restore civilian rule to Mali. In return, the sanctions were lifted. As part of the agreement, Amadou resigned as president.
The president of the National Assembly, Dioncounda Traore, was sworn in as interim president of Mali in 2012. However, this was met with opposition and in May, he was beaten into unconsciousness by a mob of junta supporters who had launched an attack on the presidential palace. This led him to flee the country. Yet, under pressure from the Economic Community of West African States to form a more inclusive government, Traore reappointed his prime minister, Cheick Modibo Diarra.
During Traore's short departure, the situation in the self-declared state of Azawad grew more precarious. In late May, an alliance was announced with ISIS. By early July, other Islamist groups had wrested control of the territory from northern region - including the main towns of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal - and began imposing Shariah law on northern Malians. In addition, the Islamists had begun destroying many religious shrines of great historical and cultural value. By midsummer, the grave situation in the north had caused hundreds of thousands of Malians to flee the region. As the various Islamist groups strengthened their foothold in the north, the international community grew concerned that the region was becoming a haven for terrorist groups and debated what course of action to take to assist Mali. However, many members of Mali's military, including the members of the junta responsible for the March coup, were resistant to the idea of foreign troops on Malian soil.
On December 2012, Diarra, one of Malian politicians who supported plans for foreign intervention in the north, was arrested by soldiers from the junta. The next day they forced him to resign as prime minister. Later that day, Traore appointed Django Cissoko, a seasoned public official, as the new interim prime minister. Later that month, the UN Security Council authorised the deployment of an international force, led by African troops, to help Mali reclaim the northern part of the country. Fighters advanced into government-held territory which prompted the UN to call for swift action. This resulted in the French military launching Operation Serval in January 2013. They utilised both air striked and ground combat to force the Islamist fighter to retreat. A month later, Malian and French forces regained control of the territory. The UN Security Council approved the creation of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, with troops from there working alongside the remaining French forces to maintain security.
A peace accord was also signed in June 2013 by the Mali government and Tuareg rebels. It provided for an immediate cease-fire and for the return of Malian troops to regions in the North which had been held by Tuareg rebels after the Islamist fighter were pushed out. The agreement intended to provide an environment conducive to elections, which were expected to be held later that summer. In spite of the concerns that the country was not ready to hold election, the polls were held on July 28, 2013. Election day was peaceful and a record number of votes- more than 50% - turned out to cast their ballots. Provisional results showed that no candidate received a majority of the vote, so the top two vote getters, former prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and former finance minister Soumaila Cisse, faced each other in a second round of voting.
In 2013, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita took office, promising to help unify the country after a rebellion, a coupe and Islamic insurgency. He won the second round with almost 78% of the vote. Although some strides were made in the area of economic growth, violence continued to plague the northern part of the country, either waged by Islamist militants battling government forces or citizens or because of infighting among Tuareg rebels. The country also experienced attacks farther south, such as the siege of a hotel in the town of Sevare in central Mali that saw at least a dozen people killed in August 2015. In southern Mali an attack on a hotel in Bamako in November 2015 left more than 20 people dead. As the government battled with insurgents for control of parts of the country, there came troubling reports of abuses by Malian troops. There was also an uptick in fighting between various ethnic groups.
The country’s increasing problems with violence and security overshadowed the 2018 presidential election, which was scheduled to take place in July. Two dozen candidates stood in the election, including the incumbent, Keita, and his primary 2013 challenger, Cisse. When the election was held on July 29, security issues prevented voting from taking place in more than 600 polling stations. Keita and Cisse received the most votes in the poll, with Keita receiving more than 41 percent and Cisse almost 18 percent. Since no one candidate won more than 50 percent, a runoff election was scheduled. Cisse challenged the results of the first round at the country’s Constitutional Court, including in his complaint claims that ballot boxes had been stuffed and electoral law had been violated, but the court upheld the results.
The runoff election was held on August 12, 2018. Security was again a concern, and, in spite of thousands of troops being deployed to serve as additional protection, almost 500 polling stations were unable to open, and many eligible voters were deterred by fears of violence, contributing to a low turnout. Keita was declared the winner, with about 67 percent of the vote. Cisse again alleged that fraudulent activity had occurred and rejected the results.
Within this year, Mali has been beset with mass protests against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's government. The protests' organisers, calling themselves the June 5 Movement after the date of the first administration, have brought together opposition political parties, religious groups, civil society organisations, trade unions and even members of the police. These disparate elements of Malian society are uniting around their deep anger at entrenched poverty, unemployment, the government's ineffectual response to the pandemic, and the rapid deterioration of security and governance across the country. This has not been helped by Keita's decision to overturn the elections which were scheduled for this spring, helping install members of his party. The Constitutional Court of Mali decided to overturn the results for 31 seats, awarding them to the ruling party. People have also reported violent intimidation at polling places - including the kidnapping of the main opposition leader, Soumalia Cisse, by unidentified gunmen.
The Keita administration's efforts to respond to the coronavirus have been plagued by clear examples of corruption, including the misappropriation of funds that were supposed to be used for public health. One protester said that the government is telling people to stay at home to avoid the virus, but since corruption has gutted Mali's electricity supply, causing frequent outage, the heat is driving people into the street. Corrupt regimes simply cannot handle the coronavirus effectively, and the threat posed by the pandemic is resulting in people being ready to push back in ways they have not done previously. Young people especially are exasperated at the government's lack of accountability.
There is hope as of today for Mali's politics as new military rulers have conducted a coup on the government. At about midnight last night, Keita announced his resignation as well as the dissolution of the government and national assembly. Keita's departure was met with jubilation by anti-government demonstrators in Bamako, the capital. Mali's new military rulers have promised "a civilian political transition" that will lead to a general election after a "reasonable time." In a short televised debate this morning, the soldiers who are now in charge of the country said they were "not interested in power but in the health of the nation" but had intervened because of growing "chaos, insecurity and anarchy."
The UN Security Council has scheduled a close meeting for next Wednesday to discuss the situation in Mali, where it has deployed one of its biggest and most expensive peacekeeping missions. There is the worry however that the coup could destabilise the whole region. Yet the military officers who have led the takeover appear keen to reassure international and domestic opinion by announcing that they would respect a key peace deal that it is hoped would bring stability to Mali and maintain partnerships with UN peacekeepers and the large French military force in the country.
Mali still has a long way to go. The military are going to want to have a bigger stake in government and a new settlement will have to be worked out. Elections will have to take place but how can you organise poll when there is Covid-19. Western powers have become focused in tackling the fight against insurgents in Mali that it has ignored the politics. In order to achieve sustainable security and peace, Mali has to have good and inclusive governance. Hopefully now there is hope that it is on the right path to that.
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