Mali political parties request elections after junta shuns transition promise

Political parties in Mali have requested a time frame for presidential elections after the ruling junta failed to organise polls within a promised 24-month transition back to democracy.
Mali has been under military rule since August 2020, the first of eight coups in West and Central Africa over four years, including in its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger.
Regional blocs have been trying to negotiate transitions but the interim governments are dragging their feet.
Mali’s current junta seized power in a second 2021 coup and later promised to take 24 months from March 2022 to restore civilian rule, with a start date of March 26, 2024 and elections in February.