Mali’s Military leader, Colonel Assimi Goita, Tuesday received a draft of a new constitution, a key part of the military’s bid to retain power in the crisis-hit country until 2024.
It was also noted that the content of the “preliminary draft constitution” has not been made public and arrived two months after it was originally due.
The chairman of the drafting committee, Fousseyni Samake, it was learnt, presented Goita with the draft constitution.
But Malian authorities, dominated by the military which seized power in August 2020, cited the drafting of a new fundamental law as one of the reforms needed for the “refoundation” of the state.
The commission was inaugurated in June after extending military rule until 2024 and has said the constitution will be put to a referendum in March 2023.
Goita said, “The submission of the draft of the new Constitution is only one step in the process, as soon only the sovereign people will be called to a referendum to decide on the document. Adopting the new Constitution is the legal founding act of Malikura (term etymologically taken to mean a new Mali to the satisfaction of the masses, ed.) that the people will have sovereignly taken”.
However, the military has pledged to hold elections in February 2024 and to hand over power in March same year. In return, the regime secured an end to the sanctions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
