Malheureusement, ce numéro de la revue de presse n’est actuellement disponible qu’en allemand et en anglais.
Protests against the military government in Mali
On Wednesday, Mali’s interim president General Assimi Goïta announced a ban on all political activities by parties and other organisations in order to restore public order. This was Goïta’s reaction to the first major protests under his military rule, which took place in Bamako at the weekend. Numerous representatives of political parties initially gathered in front of the Palace of Culture on Saturday to demonstrate against the ongoing military rule. Hundreds of people followed the call of a broad coalition of political forces who opposed the threat of the dissolution of their parties and demanded a return to constitutional order by 31 December of this year. The protests continued the following day, organised by an alliance of several Malian parties. In addition, youth movements from civil society and the political scene met at the Bamako press centre on Sunday, where they published a joint manifesto. In it, they declared their support for democracy and the rule of law and also rejected the proposals recently put forward by a so-called ‘national consultation’ organised by the regime.
400 delegates took part in this consultation at the end of April. However, most of the opposition parties boycotted the consultation as they did not perceive it as independent and did not feel represented. The recommendations of this conference include the abolition of the existing party charter from 2005, a significant reduction in the number of authorised parties to just five in total and the introduction of high financial hurdles for party foundations and presidential candidacies. A fee of 100 million CFA francs (approx. €152,000) was proposed for the creation of parties and 250 million CFA francs (approx. €381,000) for presidential candidacies. In addition, General Goïta is to receive a new mandate as president for a further five years without elections. The decision on the implementation of the proposals currently lies with the military government, although the cancellation of the law on political parties was already officially announced on Wednesday last week.
The plans were criticised not only by the political opposition in Mali, but also by international observers and human rights organisations. Amnesty International described the plans as a ‘blatant attack’ on freedom of expression and freedom of association. Numerous Malian politicians also expressed their criticism. The chairman of the USR (l’Union pour la sauvegarde de la République), Nouhoum Togo, pointed out the unconstitutionality of the proposals and emphasised that the 1992 constitution guaranteed the existence of political parties. Mohamed Salia Touré, a former minister of the transitional government, spoke of a ‘historic mistake’ on social media.
Since the second military coup in 2021, Mali has been ruled by a transitional government led by Goïta. The junta had lastly announced that it would hand over power to a civilian government in March 2024. However, this handover was postponed without a concrete timetable. Since then, political activities have been gradually restricted and civil society actors have come under increasing pressure. Immediately after the coup, large sections of the population had still been expecting the transfer of power to reduce political grievances and improve the security situation. According to analyses, developments such as the ongoing instability, delays in the announced transition to civilian governance and the restriction of political freedoms are, however, contributing to a growing distance between the government and parts of the population and to the fact that visible resistance is now emerging for the first time. It remains to be seen how the ban on the activities of political parties and associations that has now been imposed will affect the protests. While the protests at the weekend were still largely peaceful under the watchful eye of numerous security forces, pro-government youth groups and members of the security forces attempted to block access to the opposition youth movement’s press conference on Sunday. With the ban now in place, there is a risk of political violence should the parties organise further protests, which they had originally called for today, Friday.
Faure Gnassingbé takes over chairmanship of the Council of Ministers in Togo’s Fifth Republic
Last Saturday, current Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé was sworn in as Chairman of the newly created Council of Ministers in the capital Lomé. The country’s political transition from a presidential to a parliamentary system is thus considered to be complete, and the country is now said to be entering into its Fifth Republic. This transition was initiated by a far-reaching constitutional reform, which was passed in April 2024 by parliament which dominated by the ruling party (press review CW 13/2024). It stipulates that the office of president will fulfil predominantly symbolic tasks in future. The president represents national unity and can, among other things, accredit ambassadors or issue individual pardons, but only with the approval of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. According to the revised constitution, this new position is now in turn the highest executive position in the state, it is elected by parliament for six years and it is not subject to any term limits.
This means that Gnassingbé remains de facto the most powerful man in the state. As Chairman of the Council of Ministers, he coordinates the government’s work in accordance with the new constitution, defines the political guidelines and is responsible for the implementation of decisions. This position therefore corresponds to that of a prime minister. The right to nominate candidates for the chairmanship lies with the National Assembly, which has been dominated by the ruling Union pour la République (UNIR) party with 108 of 113 seats since last year’s controversial elections. The nomination of Gnassingbé for the new position was correspondingly certain. He was succeeded in the now symbolic office of president by 86-year-old Jean-Lucien Savi de Tové who was elected on Saturday with all the votes present in parliament, consisting of the National Assembly and the Senate. This appointment came as a surprise to observers. Savi de Tové is a political veteran and former opposition activist who spent several years in prison and later in exile under the rule of Gnassingbé’s father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma. After initially serving two years as Minister of Economy and Industry after Faure Gnassingbé took office in 2005, he disappeared from the country’s political scene at the end of the 2000s- until now. His election as president of the country is therefore seen above all as a move by Gnassingbé to have a respected personality in this position who at the same time cannot pose a threat to him.
While the government under UNIR is trying to present the introduction of the Fifth Republic as a positive step towards a modern parliamentary democracy, outsiders and opposition members reacted with harsh criticism to Gnassingbé’s swearing-in and the final implementation of the constitutional reform. On Sunday, hundreds of representatives of opposition parties and civil society came together. The drift towards authoritarian and monarchical conditions was denounced. The Santé du Peuple party spoke of undemocratic processes that ignore the will of the population and only serve to keep Gnassingbé in power, who could now theoretically rule for the rest of his life. The Comité d’Action pour le Renouveau (CAR) party labelled the events a constitutional coup d’état. The return of de Tové as president also caused anger within civil society; he is accused of having betrayed his principles. The criticism of former Interior Minister François Akila-Esso Boko and former Defence Minister Marguerite Gnakadé, the widow of Gnassingbé’s deceased brother and thus a member of the ruling family, also caused a stir. They both warned of an increasingly authoritarian system based on military protection and nepotism. They called for a change in course and emphasised the need for a democratic new beginning for the country.
Gnassingbé’s family has ruled Togo since 1967, when his father Eyadéma seized power in a coup and ruled the country for almost four decades. After his death in 2005, Gnassingbé succeeded him. Since then, he has been confirmed several times in sometimes highly controversial elections. With the implementation of the constitutional reform, he has discharged himself of this democratic duty.
In other news
On Wednesday, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) announced that PFL Africa will be launched at the end of July. This will make it the third international mixed martial arts (MMA) league after PFL Europe and PFL MENA. A total of four PFL Africa events are to take place this year in four different countries, with 24 fighters from 14 African countries, including Egypt, Cameroon, Morocco, Senegal, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Tournaments are planned with eight fighters per weight class, starting with heavyweight and bantamweight. The tournament kicks off on 26 July at the GrandWest Arena in Cape Town, South Africa. The PFL is the first MMA organisation to offer athletes a league system with a season, play-offs and finals in six weight classes instead of organising individual fights for a championship title. The prize money is up to one million US dollars. According to the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation, the continent is one of the fastest growing markets. Nineteen countries have already legalised MMA. African fighters such as the former French-Cameroonian UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who will also chair PFL Africa, as well as Dricus Du Plessis (South Africa), Israel Adesanya, and Kamaru Usman (both Nigeria), have made waves internationally and are contributing to the growing popularity of the sport.
Event information
Next Thursday, 15 May 2025, the Brandenburg Museum in Potsdam will open the exhibition ‘Signals of Power. Nauen, Kamina, Windhoek’, which can be seen until 2 November 2025. For the first time, the exhibition sheds light on the role of telecommunications technology as a colonial instrument of power and places the world’s oldest still active large radio station in Nauen in the context of its historical connections to Kamina (Togo) and Windhoek (Namibia). With partly unpublished archive material and artistic positions by Tuli Mekondjo (Namibia), Madjé Ayité (Togo), Frederike Moormann and Angelika Waniek (Germany), the history of the ‘large-scale radio network’ as a tool of global influence is critically scrutinised. The exhibition will be accompanied by a community event on 17 May at 5 p.m. and guided dialogue tours with the curators and international researchers on 18 May at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Further information on the exhibition and registration for the opening can be found here.