The government of Mali has announced the postponement of the two rounds of voting initially scheduled for February 4 and 18, 2024. This announcement was made by government spokesperson Abdoulaye Maiga on Monday.
Maiga stated that the postponement is due to “technical reasons,” which encompass issues related to the recent adoption of a new constitution and the ongoing review of electoral lists. Additionally, a dispute with the French company Idemia, involved in the census process, was cited as a contributing factor to the delay. The government has not provided the new dates for the presidential election at this time.
Furthermore, authorities have decided not to organize legislative elections, originally planned for the end of 2023, before the presidential election. Instead, they plan to focus exclusively on the presidential election, with other elections to be scheduled later under the guidance of the new authorities and the directives of the incoming president.
This postponement represents another setback to the junta’s timeline for returning power to elected civilian leaders. The military, which conducted successive coups in 2020 and 2021, had previously promised legislative elections for February 2022 but later admitted that it could not adhere to the agreed-upon timetable with the regional bloc ECOWAS. The junta, led by Assimi Goita, has stated that it requires additional time to implement significant institutional and political reforms.
The government’s statement did not address recent security developments but emphasized junta leader Goita’s commitment to restoring a peaceful and secure constitutional order, with institutional political reforms as a top priority.