Military leaders promise a return to civilian rule, but opponents argue the changes would give the president excessive powers.
In Mali, votes are being counted in a referendum on an amendment to the constitution that military rulers and regional powers say will pave the way for elections and a return to civilian rule.
The military government, which seized power through coups in 2020 and 2021, pledged to hold the referendum as part of a transition to democracy under pressure from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Sunday voting began at 08:00 GMT and preliminary results are expected within 72 hours. Presidential elections are scheduled for February 2024.
Due to the armed conflict, voter turnout is likely to be low in the country of 21 million people. But it is taken as an indicator of the military government’s ability to restore stability and inspire popular enthusiasm for its agenda.
“I am convinced that this referendum will pave the way for a new Mali, a strong Mali, an efficient Mali, a Mali that serves the well-being of its people,” interim President Assimi Goita said on Sunday.
Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque said that although around 8 million Malians are eligible to vote, “many of them will not be able to cast their ballot because there are large swaths of land in the north and in the center of the country that are in the Hand of.” Armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIL [ISIS]“.
Haque reported from the capital, Bamako, that there was no voting in the northern city of Kidal and that armed groups in Timbuktu had threatened to attack polling stations.
However, he added that there was “an element of defiance” in Bamako and a palpable sense that “Malians really want to make their voices heard and really want to push this referendum and this constitutional change forward”.
Some of the changes in the constitution drafted by the committee are controversial. Proponents say they would strengthen fragile political institutions, while opponents insist they would give the president sweeping powers.
But regional bodies and the United Nations see the referendum as a crucial test of the military’s willingness to stick to the transition phase and conduct a nationwide democratic process, especially as violent religious groups step up their attacks.
Al Jazeera’s Haque said this is a moment that has been in the making for 30 years, adding that “the leader of the Malian military government has succeeded where previously elected presidents have failed, by leading this vote and talks around this.” organized a referendum”.
The vote is about “establishing legitimacy and sovereignty for millions of people who feel torn by violence in a country that has been under attack for nearly a decade.”
The draft includes updates that have been proposed in the past, failed attempts to revise the constitution that proponents hope will strengthen democracy and eliminate divisions, including the creation of a second chamber of parliament to boost representation from across Mali .
Mali will comply with a 2000 directive of the West African Economic and Monetary Union – also known by its French-language acronym UEMOA – with the proposed establishment of a separate audit office for government expenditures.
However, some opposition parties, pro-democracy groups and “no” activists say that non-democratically elected authorities like the military have no right to oversee such sweeping constitutional reform.
“The concerns of the Muslim faith are not taken into account at all, so I voted ‘no’,” 30-year-old Mariam Diop told AFP.
But official Boulan Barro said: “Today is a historic day. This vote will change a lot of things… That’s why I voted ‘yes’ for a new Mali.”
On Friday, the West African country called on the United Nations to withdraw its peacekeeping mission from the country “immediately” and condemned the United Nations’ “failure” to respond to security challenges. UN Security Council members have until June 30 to adopt a resolution extending the mission’s mandate.
The military rulers have increasingly imposed deployment restrictions on the peacekeeping forces and also broken Mali’s long-standing alliance with the former colonial power France.
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali – MINUSMA, as the force is known – was established in 2013 to help stabilize the country after a Tuareg rebellion sparked prolonged fighting the previous year. While the rebels in Mali’s northern cities were being ousted from power by a French-led military operation, they regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies.