The head of the Malian junta, Colonel Assimi Goïta, launched in Bamako, Monday May 6, the national phase of consultations supposed to produce, without foreign intervention, solutions to get the country out of the crisis in which it has been plunged for years. This “inter-Malian dialogue for peace and national reconciliation”, preceded by a phase of local consultations, must end on Friday. It is boycotted by a large part of what remains of the opposition.
The colonels who took the leadership of this country by force in 2020, prey to jihadist attacks and the actions of armed groups, are accused by their detractors of using these consultations to legitimize their maintenance in power. They failed in their commitment to organize a presidential election in February and to give way to civilians elected at the end of March. They suspended party activities in April, blaming them for their criticism of non-compliance with commitments and “dialogue.”
Colonel Goïta nevertheless assured that the “dialogue” had been “entirely inclusive”, in accordance with his desire to see all Malians “participate in it and express themselves freely”. The head of state, who has made the restoration of national sovereignty his mantra, promoted these consultations as a purely Malian search for solutions. “We have decided that the Malians meet among themselves without intermediaries to design a new architecture of peace,” he said during a ceremony broadcast by national television, without any precise indication on the paths of a exit from the crisis.
The authorities present the “dialogue” as replacing the Algiers peace agreement signed in 2015 with northern separatists. The agreement was considered by international partners as a primary factor in stabilization, but was seen by part of the public as an attempt at partition imposed from abroad. The separatists took up arms again against the central state in 2023 and the junta denounced the agreement. “The solutions recommended by the international community have rather contributed to expanding the areas of tension to affect a large part of the territory,” said Colonel Goïta.
