Mali: Postponement of elections, up to five years, advised by a panel





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BAMAKO (Reuters) – The panel overseeing national consultations on political and institutional reforms in Mali following last year’s military coup on Thursday recommended a six-month to five-year postponement of elections scheduled for next February, citing in particular security issues.

The interim government, which took office after the military coup of August 2020, initially agreed to organize presidential and legislative elections on February 27, 2022 in order to restore constitutional order through the ballot box.

But little progress has been made in this process, a situation the authorities blame on a lack of organization and the violence perpetrated by Islamist groups in the north and center of the country.

The main political and economic blocks in West Africa have already imposed sanctions against the Malian authorities after the latter announced that the poll would be postponed.

This prolonged transition to a return to democracy could isolate Mali from its neighbors and from France, whose thousands of troops are deployed in the country to fight against insurgents of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group.

It comes at a delicate moment from a diplomatic point of view, when the Western powers are worried about the sending by Russia of private mercenaries on the sidelines of the redeployment of French soldiers.

The Malian government had indicated in the past that it would study the panel’s recommendations and that it would set a new electoral calendar by the end of January.

(Report Tiemoko Diallo; French version Jean Terzian)









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