Malians began voting in a referendum on a draft new constitution on Sunday, the first vote since the junta took office three years ago.
Many voters were already there before the opening at 8:00 a.m. local time (10:00 a.m. French time) of the polling station of the Mamadou Gundo Simaga school, placed under surveillance by the security forces.
Then, the first voters began to choose between a white yes and a red no ballot in the voting booth, out of sight of officials, representatives of the two camps and some national observers, before casting their vote in a transparent urn.
More than 8 million voters called to the polls
Some 8.4 million Malians are called to vote in a ballot disputed by a diverse opposition and that compromises the persistent insecurity in several regions.
Among the changes proposed by the board regarding the 1992 Constitution, voters will decide whether or not to accept a reinforcement of the president’s powers at the head of this country faced with the expansion of the jihadists and a multidimensional crisis: security, political, economic , humanitarian.
This acceptance is one of the bets of the consultation. Critics of the project describe it as tailor-made to keep the military in power beyond presidential elections scheduled for February 2024, despite their initial commitment to hand it over to civilians after the election. Results are expected within 72 hours.
The big favorite “yes”
The victory of the “yes” seems to have been won. But the scope will be analyzed, such as participation, although traditionally low, and the conditions for carrying out the scrutiny.
In an environment that is difficult to decipher due to the opacity of the system and the restrictions imposed on expression, the vote could provide indications, to be taken with caution, of the population’s support for the junta and its leader, the supposedly popular Colonel Assimi. Goïta, as well as on the internal situation.
The soldiers who took power by force in 2020 and exercise it without sharing seek to push back the jihadists on the ground. The vote takes place less than 48 hours after the forceful license that Bamako gave to the UN mission after ten years of presence. The authorities believe that the mission has failed and that Mali can assume its security by “its own means”.
But lingering insecurity is expected to prohibit voting in large swaths. Where it will take place, offices are always open to attack.
A Constitution that would strengthen the powers of the President
The proposed Constitution grants a privileged place to the armed forces. It highlights “sovereignty”, the mantra of the junta since its advent and then the break with the former French dominant power, as well as the fight against corruption, associated with the old regime.
It is distinguished above all by strengthening the powers of the president. He foresees an amnesty for the coup leaders before its promulgation and fuels persistent speculation about a possible presidential candidacy for Colonel Goïta.
In a final speech on Friday, Colonel Goïta called on his fellow citizens to vote “massively” for the project, which he presented as guaranteeing a “strong state”, “democratic governance” and “renewed trust” of Malians in the authorities. .
Source: BFM TV
