This archive report was first published on 19 June 2020.
June 19, 2020 - Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is facing mounting pressure from anti-government protests that have swept the country in recent days.
The demonstrations, which have drawn tens of thousands of people, are fueled by frustration over the government's failure to contain a jihadist insurgency that emerged in northern Mali in 2012 and spread to the fragile center of the West African state.
Thousands of soldiers and civilians have died, and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes in the conflict, which has also been exacerbated by the country's sclerotic pace of political reforms, a flagging economy, and widespread perception of government corruption.
On Friday, an imam led a massive protest in a central city square, where protesters sang the national anthem and blew vuvuzela horns, bearing placards with anti-government slogans.
The demonstration was organized by the Movement of June 5 -- Rally of Patriotic Forces, a coalition of opposition groups that has been channelling deep-seated frustration about the slow pace of progress and continuing bloodshed.
At the head of the coalition is Mahmoud Dicko, an imam and Islamic hardliner whose political star is rising in the war-torn country.
Despite President Keita's pledge to form a new unity government that would include opposition figures, the June 5 movement went ahead with the protest, with Dicko saying that Keita 'hasn't learned his lesson, he doesn't listen to people. But this time he will understand.'
Keita, who was elected president in 2013 and re-elected in 2018, has been pushed to make several concessions in recent days, including raising the salaries of public teachers and extending an olive branch to the opposition.
However, his efforts to appease opponents appear to have fallen on deaf ears, with protesters calling for his resignation and the country's neighbours expressing concern over the sharpening political divide.
