Mali unveils electoral calendar

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – Mali’s military government has adopted an electoral calendar for the transition to constitutional rule, with the presidential election set for February 2024, government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga announced Thursday.

According to the roadmap, the presidential election will be preceded by a referendum on the new Constitution in March 2023, legislative elections between October and November 2023, and local elections in June 2023, Maïga, who is also minister of territorial administration, said on state television.

Noting that the electoral roadmap was validated at a government meeting Wednesday evening, he said “the government finds it realistic.”

The electoral timetable comes weeks after the junta on June 6 issued a decree stipulating that they would govern until March 2024.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) expressed “regret” when the authorities issued the decree without waiting for the end of negotiations.

Mali has witnessed two subsequent coups, in August 2020 and May 2021.

Since the military took power in August 2020, it has faced pressure from ECOWAS, which insists on a rapid return to civilian rule. ECOWAS had said the army must leave power within a maximum period of 16 months, which it considers to be reasonable.

The junta had initially promised to hold elections in February this year but later changed course, saying elections would be held in 2026, a move that was rejected by ECOWAS.

ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Mali for delaying restoring constitutional order.