The 26 March 1991 Malian coup d'état resulted in the overthrow of President
Moussa Traoré after over two decades of dictatorship
and eventually led to multi-party elections.
Background
In 1968, Traoré had himself led a
military coup d'état, ousting the first president of
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
,
Modibo Keïta
Modibo Keïta (4 June 1915 – 16 May 1977) was the first President of Mali (1960–1968) and the Prime Minister of the Mali Federation. He espoused a form of African socialism.
Youth
Keïta was born in Bamako-Coura, a neighborhood of Ba ...
, and making himself the second.
[ On 25 October 1990, opposition to his decades-long rule coalesced into the Alliance for Democracy in Mali (ADEMA), an umbrella organization for opposition groups. Unrest grew as the people blamed the regime's corruption and mismanagement for the economic troubles they faced.]International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...
, causing increased hardship for all but the rich.
ADEMA and other pro-democracy groups demanded the end of the one-party state
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
. On 22 March, tens of thousands of students and others marched through the streets of Bamako, the nation's capital. Government soldiers fired on the peaceful demonstrators, killing 28 and setting off days of rioting.[ Sources vary as to the toll: the opposition claimed 148 killed and hundreds wounded, while Traoré said there were 27 deaths.][ Traoré declared a state of emergency and met with opposition leaders. He offered concessions, but refused to step down as they demanded. A general strike was called for 25 March.]
Coup
Lieutenant Colonel Amadou Toumani Touré launched a coup that deposed Traoré.[ As news spread, hospital sources reported at least another 59 dead and 200 wounded, including revenge killings.][ Education Minister Bakary Traore and Mamadou Diarra, the former leader's brother-in-law, were burned to death.][
The National Reconciliation Council (soon renamed the Transitional Committee for the Salvation of the People), chaired by Touré, was set up to run the country temporarily, until civilian government was reestablished in 1992 after constitutional referendum, presidential and ]parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
elections.
Aftermath
Former President Moussa Traoré was imprisoned in 1992 and sentenced to death.[ then pardoned him and his wife in May 2002 as Konaré's term in office came to an end.]
See also
* 1968 Malian coup d'état
* 2012 Malian coup d'état
* 2020 Malian coup d'état
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1991 Malian coup d'etat
1991 in Mali
Conflicts in 1991
Military coups in Mali
1990s coups d'état and coup attempts
March 1991 events in Africa