Unless a big surprise, Malians will go to the polls on December 17 to elect circle councilors and regional councilors. The mandates of those elected in 2009 have expired since 2014. On Wednesday, November 15, after a meeting with political parties, the Minister of Territorial Administration, Tiéman Hubert Coulibaly, announced the decree convening the Electoral College adopted in the Council of Ministers on October 5 has not been revoked.
The Malian government has decided to comply with the decree issued by the Council of Ministers, on October 5, convening the Electoral College for regional and local elections coupled with the partial communal elections.
The Minister of Territorial Administration, Tiéman Hubert Coulibaly, in charge of the organization of the polls, met the political parties on Wednesday, November 15, to take stock of the preparations.
He stressed that “there are opinions that are different, which requires an attitude absolutely faithful to previous decisions (….) The exercise of the government will be, after consulting all actors including those who request the postponement, to build a decision”. Moreover, he said that 64 communes have been presented as communes at risk, but he added, “we must fight to organize the elec7ons in an inclusive way, we do not want to leave anyone on the side of the road”.
It emerges from the meeting that there are no candidacies in 11 communes as part of the partial communal elections. It is the same for local elections for which 4 circles have not registered any candidacy.
The request for a postponement by the signatory armed groups of the peace agreement from the Algiers process, CMA and Platform, “will be analyzed”, promised Minister Tiéman Hubert Coulibaly. In fact, at the end of October, the two signatory armed movements of the Agreement denounced “a flagrant violation of the Agreement” with regard to the promulgation of the Collectivities code by President Keïta. For the movements, this document is at odds with the Agreement.
Since 2014, the mandate of circle and regional councilors has expired in Mali. Which, for many actors, raises the problem of their legitimacy and their legality.
Sahelien.com