Mali junta holds vote on new constitution, paving way to elections

Malians have headed to the polls on whether to back a draft constitution drawn up by the governing junta which has fuelled speculation that the country's strongman ruler will seek election.

Some 8.4 million citizens are eligible to vote in Sunday's referendum on the new text in the first electoral test for leader Colonel Assimi Goita, 40, who has vowed to return the country to civilian rule in 2024.

Goita was among the first to cast his ballot, while voters flocked to polling stations in the capital, Bamako, an AFP news agency journalist saw.

"Today is a historic day. This vote will change many things... That's why I voted 'yes', for a new Mali," said civil servant Boulan Barro.

The west African nation has been under military rule since an August 2020 coup, which followed years of instability marked by militant insurgencies and political and economic crisis.

The danger of militant attacks looms over central and northern regions, meaning the vote is not being held in some parts of the country, including the town of Kidal, a stronghold of former rebels.

In Menaka, a northern region contending with rebels linked to Daesh, voting was limited to its capital due to insecurity, local elected officials said.

A stronger presidency

The junta has advertised the new constitution as the answer to Mali's inability to tackle its multiple crises.

The new constitution will strengthen the role of the president, who will have the right to hire and fire the prime minister and cabinet members.

The government will answer to the president, and not parliament as the current 1992 document states.

It will also give an amnesty to those behind prior coups, reform the regulation of public finances, and force MPs and senators to declare their wealth in a bid to clamp down on corruption.

A politician, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some in the military were hoping a new constitution would "reset the clock" –– erasing a previous commitment that Goita would not take part in the 2024 election.

Observers say a vote for "yes" is almost certain.

"Malians say that presidents from democratic regimes did not necessarily shine. Corruption has reached a certain level. People want to see something else," Bamako University sociologist Brema Ely Dicko said.

However, the reform has drawn vocal opposition, from former rebels and imams as well as political opponents.