Different opposition parties reject the draft new Constitution in Mali

12 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Various opposition parties and associations in Mali have rejected the project for a new Constitution proposed by the leader of the military junta, Assimi Goita, in the context of the controversial transition process in the African country.

One of those who has spoken out in this regard has been the Malian opposition party National Convention for Solidarity in Africa, led by former Prime Minister Soumana Sako, who on Thursday affirmed his rejection of the project.

In this way, he has indicated in a statement collected by the Maliweb news portal that the “resulting regime” of the military coups of August 2020 and May 2021 do not give legitimacy to the board for the elaboration of a new Constitution in the name of the Malian people.

Two days ago, the movement headed by the influential imam Mahmud Dicko, who leads the Coordination of Movements, Associations and Supporters (CMAS), made a similar statement on the matter, assuring that the board does not have the power to carry out the process.

“We believe that it is not a new Constitution that can help Mali to get out of the multidimensional crisis that it has been experiencing for many years,” the group stressed in a statement signed on January 9, according to the Malijet news portal.

The text presented underlines the unity of the Malian State, as well as its secular character. Likewise, it proposes the creation of a Superior Council of the Nation, which would be equivalent to a Senate, and reinforces the figure of the president.

The country’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, who is also Mali’s interim prime minister and spokesman for the junta, has invited opposition leaders to a meeting this Thursday, which, however, has also been rejected. .

“The Constitution is sacred. To review it, an elected President of the Republic and an elected Assembly are needed. We will boycott the meeting,” the Jigiya Kura alliance said in a statement, according to Radio France Internationale.

Goita led the coup in August 2020 against the then Malian president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, and subsequently led a second coup in May 2021 against the transitional authorities — at which time he overthrew the president and prime minister, Bah Ndaw and Moctar Ouane–, rising to power.