Mali's ruling junta has announced it will allow political parties and political associations to resume their activities, which it had suspended in the spring.

"The government decided to lift the suspension that barred political parties and the activities of political associations," said a statement on Wednesday from the council of ministers, which is dominated by the military leaders who took power in a 2020 coup.

The head of the military government, Colonel Assimi Goita, had justified the suspension by citing the political parties' "sterile discussions" and "subversion", which he said posed a danger to an ongoing national "dialogue" on Mali's political future.

The parties at the time were protesting the colonels' decision to stay in power beyond a March 2024 deadline for returning to civilian rule.

The main parties and what remains of the opposition boycotted the "dialogue", which went ahead anyway with supporters of the regime.

"Untenable" situation

In May, pro-junta figures issued "recommendations" that the military remain in power "for two to five additional years", and that the current head of the junta be allowed to run in any future presidential elections.

Late June, 11 members of the opposition were arrested after calling on the junta to return power to civilians.

Mali'sSahel Tribune website welcomed the lifting of the ban. "A new page is being turned for Mali (...] political leaders are now called upon to return with a new vision, one in which the national interest takes precedence over personal ambitions," it wrote.

But Burkina Faso daily Aujourd'hui au Faso said Assimi Goita had little choice but to "ease off" because the situation was "untenable".

"Keeping politicians in a straitjacket was a constant source of trouble and minor setbacks," it said.

Mali has been under military rule since the first coup in 2020. In September the junta indefinitely postponed elections promised for February 2024, citing technical reasons.

(with newswires)