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Voters in Mali have overwhelmingly opted for constitutional reforms in a referendum that will allow sweeping changes to the African country’s laws and pave the way for the return of democratic elections.
The result, announced late on Friday evening, confirmed that the “Yes” campaign had gained 97 per cent of the vote.
But the verdict of the plebiscite held on Sunday comes amid accusations of kidnapping and assault of electoral commission officials. It will allow the Malian junta, which has been in power since two coups in 2020 and 2021, to carry out reforms that had previously been proposed but which had failed to progress.
The constitutional changes will include enshrining Mali’s status as a secular state — a move opposed by some Islamic clerics — and creating a second chamber of parliament, which supporters say will enhance political representation across the country.
There is also a provision for a court of auditors to oversee government spending, which would finally bring Mali in line with a 2000 directive from the West African Economic and Monetary Union.
Mali’s military junta and the regional Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) have said the result also clears the way for elections expected to take place in February 2024, as part of a transition to democracy.
Junta leader Assimi Goïta said he was “convinced that this referendum paves the way for a new, strong, efficient and emerging Mali, but above all a Mali at the service of the wellbeing of the people”.
The turnout was 39 per cent of the 8.4mn eligible voters, according to the nation’s electoral commission.
The Malian Election Observation Mission, a team funded by the EU and European Centre for Electoral Support, said electoral agents were kidnapped and assaulted in Niafunké, a town in central Mali, as well as elsewhere in the region. Electoral materials were also removed at other polling stations.
“At the end of the poll, there were several types of incidents and malfunctions,” the observer group said in a statement, adding that voting had opened early in the majority of polling stations its agents visited.
The “No” coalition — backed by civil society groups, opposition parties and pro-democracy campaigners — argues that while the reforms are necessary, an unelected junta should not be allowed to make far-reaching changes to the country’s constitution.
The result comes amid uncertainty about the status of the UN peacekeeping force, Minusma, which has been in the country since 2013 and comprises more than 13,000 troops from several nations.
A day before the referendum took place, foreign minister Abdoulaye Diop used a UN Security Council meeting to demand Minusma’s immediate withdrawal, saying there was a “crisis of confidence” between his government and the UN mission and accusing it of fuelling intercommunity tensions.
Mali is one of the countries in the Sahel region battling a decade-long Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands and displaced millions from their homes. Minusma forces have been guarding communities in conflict-ravaged areas in the country’s north.
A coalition of Tuareg rebel groups who signed a peace agreement with the Bamako government in 2015 said this week that Minusma’s withdrawal would be a “fatal blow” to the peace deal.
“The departure of Minusma without a credible alternative would constitute a threat to security in Mali and the whole region,” the group said.
Ulf Laessing, Sahel programme director at the Konrad Adenauer foundation, said the junta’s call for Minusma’s immediate withdrawal was a ploy to “shore up domestic support ahead of the referendum”. He added that the junta was playing “the nationalist card to divert attention from domestic problems” such as poor security and high inflation.
The junta has drawn closer to Russia since taking power, including having links with the mercenary Wagner Group, which has been in the country since at least 2021.
Although there are concerns about Minusma’s effectiveness in fighting the insurgents, Laessing said the country would become even less stable without the UN mission, which provides local jobs, funds educational activities and helps the displaced.
“The presence of Minusma in cities like Mopti or Gao deters jihadists. The Malian state is hardly present outside Bamako . . . with a withdrawal, the cities would also become less secure,” Laessing added.
