A statement read on state television said the decision had been validated by military leader Assimi Goita, who seized power in the West African country after coups in 2020 and 2021.

Last month, a national conference of political actors in Mali recommended naming Goita as president with a five-year mandate as well as dissolving the parties.

In protests in Bamako on May 3 and May 4, several hundred critics carried placards displaying messages calling for multi-party elections and chanted slogans such as, "Down with dictatorship, long live democracy."

The junta originally committed to holding elections in February 2022.

Ahead of another planned protest on May 9, Mali suspended political activities across the country, forcing the opposition parties to call off their gathering.

Meanwhile, three opposition politicians are feared to have been abducted in recent days, according to party officials and human rights activists, raising fears of mounting repression.

--Reuters--