Numerous factors led to the formation of the 5 June Movement and the August coup d’etat.
Tensions had been seething ever since irregularities were reported during the 2018 Malian presidential election.[7] The on-going Mali War in the Tuareg-controlled northern region intensified the situation. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports have documented army abuses against civilians in the central Mopti and Segou regions,[8] dozens of attacks by armed groups in 2019 that resulted in 456 civilian deaths and hundreds of injuries.[9] Another twelve people were killed due to dissident Fulani in Mopti attacks in April.[10]
Dissidents also questioned the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first two cases were reported on 25 March 2020,[11] and by the end of May, there were 1,265 cases and 77 deaths.[12]
After repeated postponements,[13][14][15] the first round of the 2020 Parliamentary election was finally held on 29 March 2020. Opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé and members of his electoral team were kidnapped by jihadists three days before the election.[16] He was released on 6 October.[17] Polling stations were ransacked, village leaders were kidnapped, and a roadside bomb killed nine people including three soldiers on election day, 29 March.[18] Voter turnout was only 12% in Bamako.[19]
The Second round of the 2020 elections
At least 25 soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base in the northern town of Bamba, Gao Region, on 6 April,[20] and concerns about violence dominated the second round of the elections.[7]
Incidents on 19 April prevented some people from casting votes, and on 30 April the Constitutional Court overturned the results in 31 districts, giving Rally for Mali, which is led by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, ten more seats than originally expected.[7] Opposition parties led by Iman Mahmoud Dicko established the Mouvement du 5 Juin - Rassemblement des forces patriotiques [fr] (English: 5 June Movement - Rally of Patriotic Forces) on 30 May, and thousands took to the streets in protest on 5 June.[7]
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and Imam Mahmoud Dicko met on 5 July,[23] but the opposition continued to call for civil disobedience to force Keïta's resignation and the dissolution of Parliament.[7]
Protests turned violent on 10 July.[7] For the next three days, protesters in Bamako clashed with security forces,[24] and security forces reportedly fired live rounds at the protesters, killing at least 11 and injuring 124.[25]
Mutinying soldiers arrested President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and Prime Minister Boubou Cissé after taking over a military camp near Bamako on the morning of 18 August.[28]
^"Mali: President Keita meets protest leader Mahmoud Dicko". Al Jazeera English. A video posted on the presidency's Twitter account showed the meeting between President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Mahmoud Dicko, an imam and leading figure of the so-called June 5 movement, in the capital, Bamako, on Saturday.
^"Calls for calm as Mali gov't criticised for response to protests". Al Jazeera English. 13 July 2020. Bloody protests broke out in the capital, Bamako, on Friday and Saturday, with reports saying security forces fired live rounds during clashes with demonstrators, some of whom had occupied state buildings. [...] A senior official at an emergency department of a major hospital in Bamako was quoted by AFP news agency as saying 11 people died and 124 were injured since Friday.