Mali's military leadership delayed the February presidential election

  Mali's military announced Monday that it will postpone presidential elections scheduled for February that aim to restore civilian rule. The reasons given by one army officer include issues related to the adoption of a new constitution this year and the review of voter lists. The President of Mali is elected for a five-year term. On June 18, Mali held a nationwide referendum on the West African country's new constitution, which, according to the president's decree, aims to strengthen the president's powers. According to the electoral authority, 97% of the votes cast in the referendum supported the change. The new constitution is part of the reforms of the transitional government aimed at providing a legal basis for the establishment of civil authority in the country. A transitional military government came to power in Mali in May 2021 through a military coup.

The revolution began on the night of May 24, when the Malian army, led by Vice President Assimi Goita, arrested interim President Bah N'daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane. Goita announced that N'daw and Ouane had been stripped of their power. President Assimi Goita of Mali The military council led by Goita took control of the country and announced its intention to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in 2022, but the authorities decided to postpone the elections until a later date for security reasons. It was the country's third coup in ten years, following the military coups in 2012 and 2020, which took place just nine months earlier. Last year, Mali's military leaders postponed elections until 2026. In response, the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) imposed economic and financial sanctions on the transitional government. Those restrictions were strongly criticized by the government and caused a lot of criticism among the people of Mali.