BAMAKO (Reuters) – Mali’s ruling military junta announced on Friday the postponement of a constitutional referendum scheduled for this month, as it pledged to ECOWAS, the regional bloc of East African states. West, to complete the democratic transition by March 2024.
The Malian authorities explained that the ballot would be “slightly” delayed without specifying when a new referendum would be organised.
“The government wishes to reassure the population and international opinion that the return to constitutional order remains one of its priorities,” the junta said in a statement.
The junta, in power since two successive coups in 2020 and 2021, has pledged to hold a presidential election in February 2024.
The referendum on a new Constitution which was to be held on March 19 should make it possible to assess the will of the Malian authorities to organize the ballot as planned.
ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), which last July lifted the economic and financial sanctions weighing on Mali in exchange for a shortening of the transition period to democracy, has not yet reacted to the announcement of the postponement of the referendum.
(Tiemoko Diallo report, written by Anait Miridzhanian; French version Camille Raynaud, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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