Mali's military junta holds referendum on new constitution that it calls a step toward new elections

Malian voters cast ballots on a new draft constitution Sunday in a referendum that the country's coup leader says will pave the way toward holding new elections in 2024, but that critics have called a delaying tactic for him to extend his time in power. In a message broadcast on state television on the eve of the vote, Col. Assimi Goita told Malians that the proposed draft constitution “provides for a better-organized executive power, while maintaining the necessary balance with the legislative power.” However, Imam Mahmoud Dicko, an opponent of the military junta, invited his supporters to a large hall in Bamako on Friday to ask them to vote against it. That’s the reality of this country today,” said Dicko, a one-time junta supporter who led the movement calling for the departure of democratically elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita before he was ousted in 2020. “I voted so that this new constitution would bring us peace and stability," said Moctar Diallo, a retired driver in Kalasoribougou.