Authorities are also refusing to organize legislative elections, initially scheduled for the end of 2023, before the presidential election.
On Monday, Abdoulaye Maiga, the Malian transitional government spokesperson, in Bamako, the capital of Mali, announced that the Malian presidential election, which was scheduled for February 2024, has been postponed to "a later date for technical reasons."
During a press briefing, Maiga said that "institutional reforms" must be carried out before the announcement of the new date which will be set in consultation with the Independent Electoral Management Authority as soon as possible.
This presidential election should, if necessary, be held over two rounds in February 2024, according to the timetable set by Malian transitional president Assimi Goita.
"The new dates for the presidential election will be communicated later," Maiga said.
Mali's���� military government has postponed the presidential election scheduled for February 2024 for "technical reasons".
— Kennedy Wandera (@KennedyWandera_) September 26, 2023
It is the second time that Mali's military government – which emerged from two coups in 2020 – has postponed the country's presidential election, @AP pic.twitter.com/zFY0FSJRZX
Authorities are also refusing to organize legislative elections, initially scheduled for the end of 2023, before the presidential election.
The junta "has decided to organize, exclusively, the presidential election", the statement said.
Other elections will be held on a schedule "established by the new authorities, under the directives of the new president."
The postponement is yet another delay to the junta's schedule for handing back power to elected civilians.
Furthermore, the statement made no mention of recent security developments, saying only that junta leader Goita intends "to return to a peaceful and secure constitutional order, after carrying out as a priority institutional political reform."