Ten years ago Mali was considered a stable and democratic, ethnically and religiously diverse country, whose main problems were typical of the region – poverty and dependence on the benefits of seasonal weather. The waves of the Arab Spring in its northern neighbors have also hit Mali, with the tide still continuing. The second coup, led by Colonel Asimi Goita, shows that military leaders have used the chaos of the last decade to come to power, wiping out hopes for a return to stable democracy.
An authoritarian past, a democratic twentieth anniversary and chaos
Authoritarian rule in Mali, however, would be nothing new. Undemocratic military rule was both France during colonialism until 1960, when the territory was called French Sudan, and for the next three decades, when the new independent Republic of Mali was ruled by authoritarian leaders. It was not until the 1980s that growing dissatisfaction with the economic reforms of the one-party system and the rise of ethnic violence in the north of the country led to serious opposition from authoritarian rule. In the early 1990s, it succeeded in dismantling the existing system and establishing a democratic model of multi-party governance.
Over the next 20 years, Mali became a poor but positive example of peaceful ethnic coexistence and the functioning of democracy.
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