Junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita on Monday launched the national phase of inter-Malian dialogue in a bid to find a domestic response to the country's years-long crisis.
The "inter-Malian dialogue for peace and national reconciliation" follows local consultations and is due to wrap up on Friday.
A major part of the opposition has boycotted the process, accusing the colonels of exploiting the dialogue to bolster their increasingly contested legitimacy and stay in power.
The West African nation has been ruled by juntas since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, with the military promising to hand over power through the ballot box in February.
'Entirely inclusive'
But they have postponed elections until an unspecified date, citing a precarious security situation aggravated by jihadist attacks.
In April, the military authorities suspended all political party activities.
Goita insisted that the dialogue framework had been "entirely inclusive" in line with his wish for all Malians to "take part and express themselves freely."
"We have decided that Malians will get together without intermediaries to draw up a new structure for peace," the colonel said during a ceremony broadcast on national television.
Stabilising factor
The authorities are counting on the dialogue to strengthen its peace efforts after ending a major 2015 agreement with armed separatist groups in the north.
The deal was considered internationally as a strong stabilising factor, but a section of public opinion saw it as a foreign-led attempt at partition.
The separatists took up arms against Bamako again last year and the junta withdrew from the deal.
"The solutions recommended by the international community have rather contributed to expanding the zones of tension to cover a large part of the country," Goita said.
Relative calm
While violence continued to increase in rural areas until the end of 2023, most major cities have experienced a relative calm.
No date has been fixed for a handover of power.
The first two phases of the dialogue, – communal and regional – opened in December and concluded with recommendations that the transition period before elections are held be extended, and, in some cases, that Goita run for the presidency.
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