For the past four years, the military regimes in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, now united under the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), have clung to power by closing the political space to traditional parties. Niger and Mali have begun procedures to dissolve these parties, while the Burkinabe government has banned all political activity since Captain Ibrahim Traoré came to power in September 2022. These measures, which unravel the achievements of the 1990s, are part of a coordinated strategy by the military aimed at consolidating their authority under the guise of political refoundation and the pursuit of national sovereignty.
The authoritarian shift, which began subtly, is neither accidental nor isolated. It relies on a well-rehearsed narrative: political parties are responsible for political instability and economic underdevelopment and primarily serve the interests of corrupt elites. However, while banning traditional political groups might offer some apparent short-term stability, it doesn’t provide a viable and sustainable model of governance in societies where the culture of social and political struggles is deeply entrenched. Even if democratic institutions in Central Sahel were far from perfect before the recent coups, they guaranteed political pluralism, the principle of checks and balances, and the rule of law.
According to official figures, Burkina Faso is said to have around 200 political parties, Niger 172, and Mali 300—an inflation accused of contributing to the fragmentation of the political landscape. In all systems, and the Sahel is no exception, parties play a key role in connecting the state and its citizens. However, instead of strengthening the social contract, their proliferation, in a context of electoral fatigue, has been perceived by some, including the military, as a factor of disorder and obsolescence of state authority.
Towards “development dictatorships”
On March 26, the Nigerien authorities officially announced the dissolution of all political parties, which had been suspended since the July 2023 coup d’état. During a televised address, General Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of the country, justified this decision as an act contributing to political refoundation. He cited national unity and the fight against jihadist insecurity and accused the parties of sowing division among citizens. This decision does not appear to have caused any major stir among the population, or the former political class excluded from managing the transition.
The military in power in Bamako imitated this by ending political pluralism after a national dialogue that concluded at the end of April. Political pluralism, however, had been hard-won, particularly through the citizens’ struggle against the dictatorship of Moussa Traoré, who was overthrown in March 1991. The traditional political class opposed this and announced they would respond with demonstrations, despite threats of repression. This led General Assimi Goïta to first suspend all political parties and organizations, and then subsequently to formalize their dissolution.
In neighboring Burkina Faso, political activities have been banned since the 2022 coup. On April 1st of this year, Captain Traoré unequivocally declared in a state media address to the nation that his country was experiencing a “popular and progressive revolution,” asserting that “never has a country developed through democracy.” This argument, which implicitly advocates for a “development dictatorship,” appeals to a segment of the population who see it as a credible alternative capable of driving modernization and progress. However, like Mali, Burkina Faso—which has previously experienced a one-party system—possesses a rich history of political and social struggle and resistance, making it difficult to reconcile with authoritarian tendencies.
Faure Gnassingbé and the Civilian Coup
The questioning of liberal democracy – never truly rooted in West Africa – is not the sole preserve of military regimes. In the region, with rare exceptions such as Cape Verde, Ghana, or Senegal (the latter two having sometimes experienced political transitions won through “sweat and blood”), the democratic picture remains broadly grim. While most governments have managed to hold regular elections, the consolidation of democratic practices is far from effective, creating conditions in some states for civilian leaders to manipulate constitutional texts to cling to power. Thus, after a controversial constitutional reform that shifted Togo from a presidential to a parliamentary system, Faure Gnassingbé, who has been in power since 2005, was sworn in on May 3rd as President of the Council of Ministers, now the highest executive office. Under this new system, he can remain in power indefinitely, if his party wins legislative elections. These controversial mandates, often described as civilian coups, are, moreover, leveraged by military governments in the Sahel as proof of the failure of electoral democracy.
Although they have some specificities in their political trajectories, the countries of the Central Sahel have all experienced single-party rule and semi-democratic regimes. However, since the national conferences of the 1990s, political parties have never been as threatened as they are today.
In Mali, immediately following independence in 1960, a single-party socialist regime was established under the leadership of Modibo Keïta. The 1968 coup d’état, led by the Military Committee for National Liberation under General Moussa Traoré, then a lieutenant, installed an authoritarian police state. This regime, weakened by popular protest and international pressure, only collapsed in March 1991. This ushered in a period of political pluralism, which was tested by Tuareg rebellions in the north of the country and marred by the persistence of clientelist practices that inhibited the democratic promise.
Five Unconstitutional Seizures of Power in Niger
Burkina Faso’s recent political history, though marked by popular uprisings, remains dominated by a culture of coups d’état. Since gaining independence in 1960, eleven leaders have headed the Burkinabe executive. Of these, only three were civilians, collectively holding power for less than fifteen years. The remaining leaders presided over military regimes, even if some, like Blaise Compaoré’s, attempted to “civilianize” themselves. Like Mali, Burkina Faso’s history includes popular mobilizations that led to the downfall of its first president, Maurice Yaméogo, in 1966, and Compaoré in 2014. However, despite a highly active civil society advocating for the rule of law, democratic practices have struggled to take root. This persistent challenge allows the military to remain the eternal arbiter of the political game.
Finally, in Niger, whose political stability has been praised by Western donors over the past two decades, General Abdourahamane Tiani’s coup against President Mohamed Bazoum’s administration on July 26, 2023, brutally highlighted the fragility of the political system. This event marks the fifth unconstitutional seizure of power by the military since independence in 1960. On several occasions, the Nigerian army — or certain segments of it — has intervened to “regulate” a political landscape characterized by clientelism and rent-seeking, demonstrating a praetorian culture deeply rooted in national governance.
However, whether in Mali, Burkina Faso, or Niger, none of the preceding regimes had directly confronted political parties.
Insecurity and corruption at the heart of discredit
Insecurity has been a major factor in the widespread questioning of political parties in the Sahel. While democratic systems, theoretically based on deliberation and consensus-building, possess mechanisms for resolving crises, including in the security domain, none of the civilian regimes—all semi-democratic—have withstood the surge of armed terrorist groups. The worsening security crisis has discredited political parties. This is even though, with their territorial and national roots, they could have helped contain the threat by promoting social cohesion in electoral districts far from the capitals. Even worse, insecurity has largely legitimized the military’s entry into the political arena. This has come at the expense of political parties, which some segments of the public perceive as being more concerned with their electoral interests than with the territorial integrity of their states.
As Burkina Faso and Mali crumbled, with vast portions of their territory eroded by jihadists, politicians were vying for the presidential seat, sometimes even at the peril of their own safety. For example, former Malian Prime Minister Soumaïla Cissé was kidnapped by terrorists during the campaign for the March 2020 legislative elections. By freeing themselves from the pressures of regional and international organizations advocating for a return to constitutional order, the military governments of the Sahel have succeeded in imposing the narrative that elections are no longer a national priority. Instead, the urgent need to reclaim Jihadist-held areas has taken precedence. In the current context, as long as the security crisis remains unresolved, liberal democracy appears to have little chance of flourishing in the Sahel.
Long before the emergence and expansion of terrorist groups in the region, a disconnect between political parties and the popular masses of the Sahel was already evident. Too often concentrated in large cities, political parties, with rare exceptions, have little presence in rural areas, where they often only appear as elections approach. According to a 2024 survey published by Afrobarometer—a database that collects information on citizens’ political, economic, and social attitudes in over thirty African countries—the preference for democracy remains a minority view in Burkina Faso and Mali. Respectively, 82% and 66% of those surveyed stated they would favor a military takeover if leaders abused their positions for personal gain. As demonstrated earlier, even before the pre-insurrectional period, the democracies in Mali and Burkina Faso were already fragile and challenged with each sociopolitical crisis.
152,500 euros to create a political party
However, the closure of political space and repression come at a cost. Silencing dissenting voices, as is currently happening in the three countries, may seem to strengthen the authority of the current regimes in the short term, but it also increases the risks of violent protest.
Observing how military regimes in the Sahel operate, relying on popular mobilization, they don’t necessarily seek to abolish party politics but rather to control its parameters. The recommendations from the national dialogue in Mali even leave open the possibility for political actors to create new parties. However, these new formations will have to pay a deposit of 100 million CFA francs (approximately 152,500 euros) to exercise a right otherwise guaranteed by the Constitution. The official dissolution of existing parties in Mali and Niger, combined with stricter conditions for creating new ones, therefore doesn’t signify the advent of governance without parties; rather, it reflects a desire to control the political landscape.
Indeed, the populist mode of governance promoted by the military is compatible with the logic of party disappearance, allowing them to maintain a direct relationship with their supporters. However, in Ouagadougou, Bamako, and Niamey, the military will need political intermediaries—parties or movements—to firmly establish their power. By delegitimizing traditional political parties in favor of civil society direction, often encouraged by Western democracies and international organizations in West Africa over the past three decades, the military now relies on organizations with opaque operations, thereby practicing politics by other means.
Authoritarianism, even enlightened, is not enough
The shrinking of political and civic space in the Sahel marks a decisive turning point, but it’s not unprecedented. Behind rhetoric of sovereignty, national unity, and reform, these decisions primarily aim to concentrate power in the hands of the military and sideline political figures who have been on the stage since the 1990s. By invoking the fight against terrorism, military powers seem intent on evading accountability mechanisms and equating any dissenting voice with a threat to national unity.
Yet, the recent history of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger shows that the repression of political freedoms has never been a bulwark against dissent, nor has it guaranteed lasting stability. By refusing to address the true causes of the crisis – notably institutional fragility, identity cleavages, and the marginalization of rural areas in public policies – the military risks fueling the same dynamics of delegitimization that precipitated the fall of their predecessors. This is especially true given their difficulty in demonstrating greater effectiveness in managing the security crisis than the civilian leaders they overthrew on the grounds of incompetence.
In the absence of an effective restoration of state authority across the entire territory, any ambition for democratic renewal appears illusory in the Sahel. While liberal democracy, often poorly applied in the sub-region, has not ensured sustainable economic and social progress, authoritarianism, even supposedly enlightened, cannot offer a credible response to the multidimensional crisis shaking the region.
A Crisis of Intermediary Governance
The current crisis is, above all, one of governance by intermediaries, whose limitations are now evident. To hope to reverse the trend, military regimes must focus on rebuilding the state, redeploying basic social services, and reconnecting peripheral regions, abandoned to violence, with urban centers. However, for the past four decades, successive governments in the Sahel have favored governance based on informal networks, often to the detriment of strong institutional anchoring in territorial margins.
Today more than ever, the Central Sahel needs decentralized, inclusive, and participatory governance. Suppressing dissenting voices and excluding political actors from public debate will only deepen social fractures and plunge the region into a lasting night of despair, poverty, and violence.
