Bamako, Mali
Reuters
Mali started counting votes on Sunday from a constitutional referendum that the ruling military junta and regional powers have said will pave the way to elections and a return to civilian rule.
The junta, which seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, promised to hold the plebiscite as part of a transition to democracy, under pressure from West African regional bloc the Economic Community Of West Africa States. Provisional results are expected by Tuesday.
Mali’s junta leader Assimi Goita arrives to attend the last campaign rally of the “Yes” group for the referendum on constitutional amendments that would return the country to constitutional rule, in Bamako, Mali, on 16th June, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Fatoma Coulibaly
Some of the proposed clauses in the new constitution drafted by the transitional council are contentious, with proponents saying they would strengthen fragile political institutions and opponents saying they would give too much power to the president.
But regional bodies and the United Nations see the referendum itself as an important test of the junta’s willingness to stick to the transition and hold a nationwide democratic process, particularly at a time when Islamist militants are stepping up attacks.
“With this project, we are betting on the future of our state, the restoration of its authority, and the regained trust between institutions and citizens,” interim President Colonel Assimi Goita said in a televised speech on Friday.
The draft includes updates that have been proposed in past failed efforts to revise the constitution, including the creation of a second parliamentary chamber to boost representation from across Mali.
The proposed establishment of a separate court of auditors for state spending will bring Mali in line with a directive from the West African Economic and Monetary Union from 2000.
But some opposition parties, pro-democracy groups and campaigners for the ‘No’ vote say non-elected authorities such as the junta have no right to oversee such a substantial constitutional overhaul.
“I am for a revision of the constitution but not this referendum. The legitimacy of the actors, the process…I think we could have done better,” lawyer Fousseini Ag Yehia said in the capital Bamako on Saturday.
Northern Mali armed groups that signed a 2015 peace deal, which has been shaky since the junta took power, had called for a boycott of the referendum saying the process was “not sufficiently inclusive”.
Ahmoudane Ag Ikmasse a former member of parliament for the northern town of Kidal, told Reuters that no voting took place there on Sunday.
A man hold a sign as he attends the last campaign rally of the “Yes” group for the referendum on constitutional amendments that would return the country to constitutional rule, in Bamako, Mali, on 16th June, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Fatoma Coulibaly
Ould Mohamed Ramadane, a spokesman for the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), the northern Tuareg-led rebel alliance, said voting only took place in a few places with a high concentration of Malian armed forces, such as Timbuktu, Gao and Menaka.
Large areas of northern Mali are controlled by militants linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State as the Sahel nation struggles to find stability since a 2012 Tuareg rebellion.
Mali on Friday demanded the departure of UN peacekeepers who have been in the country since 2013, saying the mission was fuelling tensions between communities.
Om Sunday, Germany said the request by Mali’s military junta for the United Nations peacekeeping force to leave the country “without delay” is politically motivated and Berlin still aims for an orderly withdrawal of its troops by May, 2024.
Mali’s interim military authorities had cited a “crisis of confidence” between Malian authorities and the decade-long UN mission known as MINUSMA, which has struggled to protect civilians and its own troops.
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Berlin has deployed some 1,000 troops to Mali, most near the northern town of Gao where their main task is to gather reconnaissance for the 13,000-strong MINUSMA.
The withdrawal demand marked a major turning point for the West African country, which has struggled to stem an Islamist insurgency that took root following an uprising in 2012. MINUSMA was deployed by the UN Security Council in 2013 to support foreign and local efforts to restore stability.
Frustrations over the growing insecurity spurred two coups in 2020 and 2021 and the ruling junta has been increasingly at loggerheads with MINUSMA and other international allies including France.
Security Council members must adopt a resolution to extend MINUSMA’s mandate by 30th June. A resolution requires at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, Britain or France to pass.
The junta has burnt bridges with traditional Western allies and turned to Russia for help boosting its military capabilities. Western governments are worried about the presence of Russian private military contractor Wagner.
“That the Malian transition government and Russia would use the upcoming extension of the UN Mandate to derive political capital from that does not surprise us,” a spokeswoman for the defence ministry said. “Our interest remains a structured exit. In this regard, we support the UN negotiations.”
Germany said late last year it would start to pull out its troops from Mali from the middle of next year after a decade-long mission, with the withdrawal to be completed by May, 2024.
