Malian Electoral Observatory Dissolved by Supreme Court

The Malian Supreme Court on August 15 upheld a decision to dissolve the country's Observatory for Elections and Good Governance–an association previously tasked with monitoring elections, ensuring transparency in the electoral process and promoting good governance..The decision comes as the civil society organization was dissolved in December 2023, forcing the group to appeal to the Supreme Court to withdraw or reverse the decision..The upholding of the dissolution comes as a hard knock to the country's transitional process, which has repeatedly been flouted by the nation's military junta led by Colonel Assimi Goita..Upon gaining power through a military coup in May 2021, Goita promised a transition to civilian rule the following year but has since clamped down on opposition and civil society alike. Three years later, the Malian authorities have cut their ties with the West, notably France and Ukraine, and inched ever closer to the Russian sphere of influence..What You Need to Know.In December 2023, a Malian court issued a dissolution decree regarding the Observatory, citing two reasons for the dissolution..Firstly, the Observatory allegedly violated an organizational financing law by failing to illustrate its financing to the Malian authorities. Secondly, comments made by the Observatory's president, who is also the head of Modele Mali, an electoral observation mission in the country that oversaw the nation's June 2023 constitutional referendum alongside other observation organizations..Announcing that "there was no vote in Kidal, nor in Tessalith, nor in Aguelhok, nor in Ashiboko, nor in Tenessako, there was no vote," in reference to the June referendum, the organization's president, Ibrahim Sangho, was told his comments were likely to disturb public order as they contradicted claims by the nation's Independent Election Management Authority, which had claimed that voting took place across the entire territory. The decree to dissolve the Observatory came six months later..An anonymous civil society member speaking to MaliActu, a local media site claimed, "this decision is a real stab in the heart of Malian democracy…the observatory was one of the last ramparts against arbitrariness and corruption.".So, What Now?.Indefinitely postponing elections and only recently lifting a ban on political activities in the country, the Malian military government has secured for itself a monopoly over Malian statecraft, with civilians and civil society groups alike essentially excluded from a now defunct process of transition to civilian rule.