The ruling junta in Mali announced on Friday that it would postpone a constitutional referendum scheduled for March 19, while assuring that it would respect its commitments to return civilians to the helm of affairs in the country in 2024.
The government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, who announced this in a statement read to the press, said the referendum is the first step supposed to be validated by the vote on the way to elections in February 2024 and a return to civilian rule.
The junta justifies this postponement by the installation of the representations of the election management body in all regions of the country and by the desire to popularize the draft new Constitution.
