Election workers at referendum in Mali’s capital Bamako Image: AFP
Mali’s Constitutional Council confirmed the adoption of a new constitution in a referendum just over a month ago. The panel rejected all complaints about irregularities in the referendum.
Mali’s Constitutional Council confirmed the adoption of a new constitution in a referendum just over a month ago. The constitution presented by the military junta was approved in the referendum on June 18 with 96.91 percent of the votes, the Constitutional Council announced on Friday. The participation was therefore a good 38 percent. The country’s highest court rejected all complaints filed against the referendum.
According to observers and critics, there have been irregularities and incidents during the vote. The Constitutional Council said votes from some locations had not been counted in the face of voting disruptions in several locations in the north and center of the West African country. The committee did not provide any details.
Critics complain that the reform is aimed at keeping the military rulers at the head of state beyond the presidential election scheduled for February. The new constitution strengthens the role of the president, who will have the power to appoint and dismiss the prime minister and members of the cabinet.
The government is accountable to the president, not to parliament as it has been up to now. Junta leader Assimi Goita is expected to run for the presidency.
The military junta had declared the project for a new constitution to be a cornerstone in the reconstruction of Mali. The West African country is experiencing a complex crisis and has been the scene of attacks by Islamist extremists for years, which began in the north of the country in 2012 and later spread to neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso.
Mali has been under military rule since a coup in August 2020. Junta leader Goita has promised to hand the country over to a civilian government in 2024.
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