In
1991, Amadou Toumani Toure was the chief officer in the Malian
military and Moussa Traoré was the standing
military ruler with 23 years of power. Following long-term domestic unrest and
economic turmoil, however, Toure arrested Traoré with
the help of seventeen other leading members of the Malian military. This event came as a delight to the Malian people and soon
thereafter new constitution was put in place that established a democratic
republic government in Mali (Baxter, 2002). According to that constitution, Mali today is a representative
political structure with an elected president, a 160-person national assembly,
and a judicial body. The president
is considered the head of state and is elected by the people every 5 years,
holding a maximum of two terms of office.
The president has the privilege of appointing a prime minister to be the
head of government. The next
presidential election will occur on April 29,
2012 and parliamentary polls have been scheduled for July 1, 2012
(Coleman).
After
playing a major role in the military overthrow of Traoré, Amadou Toumani Toure became a national hero and was very loved
and well respected by his people.
He chose to stay out of the political realm for 10 years, instead heading peace-keeping missions throughout Africa and running his own
children's charity (Baxter, 2002).
In 2002, however, he made the
decision to run for presidential office.
Toure won that election, and subsequently also won his reelection bid in
2007 by a 64.35% majority of the vote (Baxter, 2002). President Toure has been a very level headed and progressive
leader. In 2009, he attempted to pass legislation that would make it so that “women are no longer required to obey their husbands, and
instead husbands and wives owe each other loyalty and protection” (Vogl,
2009). This effort, however, was
met by widespread resistance given that 90% of Malians are Muslim and such
ideas go against their religion.
As a result, after many demonstrations took place throughout the country
against the law, including protests in Mali’s capital city that tens of
thousands of people attended, Toure ultimately withdrew the legislation from
consideration (Vogl, 2009).
Nevertheless, Toure is still widely respected and admired by his
people. He protects their safety
and respects their interests. This is most obviously seen in his protection of
the peaceful Taureg Malians who face discrimination from other groups. Toure has urged that acceptance and
unity of Malian people is very important despite cultural and racial differences (Coleman). His prime minister today is a woman named Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé, and she is the first ever female to be
the head of Mali’s government (Coleman).
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/content/20100902STO81050/html/Mali's-President-Amadou-Toumani-Touré-Africa-will-have-its-chance
Historically,
the government’s main opposition has been the Taureg rebels, though al-Qaida
Islamic extremists have also been
an unwanted presence and problem within their borders. The Taureg rebels demand autonomy and
resources from the Malian government while the Malian government criticizes the
rebels for being drug smugglers and criminals (Coleman). This conflict has escalated to a very
high breaking point in recent months, causing a great deal of violence and
upheaval. The Taureg rebels have
returned to Mali well-armed and professionally trained after spending time supporting
the Qadhafi regime in Libya. The rebels “have formed the National Movement for the Liberation of
Azawad (NLMA), with the objective of establishing an autonomous Azawad region
in the northern part of the country” (Coleman). This conflict has caused thousands of Malian citizens to
flee the country and seek refugee status in neighboring nations, and has also
led to thousands of citizen deaths.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8223736.stm
