Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BAMAKO353
2008-04-10 16:53:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bamako
Cable title:
MALI BEGINS SIX MONTH CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW
VZCZCXRO8996 RR RUEHPA DE RUEHBP #0353/01 1011653 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 101653Z APR 08 FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8991 INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000353
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM ML
SUBJECT: MALI BEGINS SIX MONTH CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW
REF: A. 07 BAMAKO 01059
B. 07 BAMAKO 00221
Classified By: Political Officer Aaron Sampson, Embassy Bamako, for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000353
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM ML
SUBJECT: MALI BEGINS SIX MONTH CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW
REF: A. 07 BAMAKO 01059
B. 07 BAMAKO 00221
Classified By: Political Officer Aaron Sampson, Embassy Bamako, for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
1.(U) On March 7 a sixteen-member Review Committee for the
Consolidation of Democracy appointed by President Amadou
Toumani Toure began its six month review of Malian democracy.
President Toure announced his intention to review of all of
Mali's democratic texts, including the constitution and
electoral law, in September 2007 (Ref A). The Malian
government has described the review as an attempt to reflect
on 15 years of democratic experience in Mali and consolidate
Mali's democratic practices. The president of the Commission,
Daba Diawara, served as Minister of Civil Service and Labor
for then Col. Amadou Toumani Toure during Mali's 1991-1992
democratic transition. He has also been Minister of Health
and Secretary General of the Presidency under former
President Alpha Oumar Konare.
2.(U) On April 2 Diawara told the Embassy the Committee was
reviewing Mali's constitution, electoral law, equal access
rules for public and private media, political party charter,
campaign finance provisions and President Toure's proposal to
invest Mali's political opposition with formalized legal
status.
3.(U) Low participation rates during the 2007 presidential
and legislative elections are one reason for the Commission's
creation. Participation for the April 2007 presidential
election hovered around 35 percent. Participation for the
June-July legislative elections was around 30 percent
nationally and much lower in Bamako. Other motivating
factors were problems with the formulation of electoral
lists, the distribution of electoral cards, the management of
polling sites and the need to revise electoral dispute
resolution mechanisms.
4.(U) Diawara said the Committee was continuing a process
that was first initiated by Alpha Oumar Konare in 2001.
Local newspapers and others have already speculated that one
of the Commission's unstated goals is a constitutional change
that would enable President Toure to stand for a third term
in 2012. Article 30 of the Malian constitution currently
limits Presidents to two terms. There is some debate,
however, over whether Article 30 precludes only a sitting
President from running for a third term or if it bars any
individual who has previously served two terms, like Konare,
from running again after sitting out an election cycle.
5.(U) Diawara said the Committee was reviewing more than 60
of the constitution's 122 articles including the one
regarding presidential term limitations. He said elected
officials, political party leaders, former Prime Ministers
and others who have already met with the Committee have made
a variety of recommendations on amending Article 30, ranging
from enabling President Toure to run again, clarifying it to
eliminate any ambiguity over the two term limit, and leaving
the Article as it is. Diawara said he would not be able to
reveal the Commission's recommendations until it has been
submitted for review to President Toure in August. Any
changes to the constitution would have to be ratified by the
National Assembly and then approved by a national referendum.
6.(U) On April 5 Oumarou ag Mohamed Ibrahim Haidara, the
president of the High Council of Collectivities (HCC),called
on the Committee to formalize the 75 member HCC's status as
Mali's second house of parliament with a role similar to the
French Senate. Several advisors from the French Senate have
been working with Oumarou and the HCC on plans to invest the
HCC with more power. Oumarou's speech, which was delivered
in front of the diplomatic corps and Prime Minister Modibo
Sidibe, indicated that the creation of a bicameral
legislative system is one of constitutional changes the
Review Committee will likely recommend.
7.(C) Kader Bah, a member of President Toure's inner circle,
told EmbOff on March 4 that the Embassy should be expecting
the Malian government to propose changing the constitution so
that President Toure can run for a third term when the
Committee completes its work in August. He said the Malian
government was already planning for the mobilization of
religious leaders, students and others in support of a
"spontaneous" draft President Toure for a third term movement.
8.(C) Comment: Mali's Review Committee for the
Consolidation of Democracy is currently an internal affair.
Diawara said the Committee was planning on organizing a
conference for international experts that would focus
revisions to Mali's electoral law, but not Mali's
BAMAKO 00000353 002 OF 002
constitution, in May. While some members of President
Toure's inner circle are clearly pushing President Toure to
run for a third term, we will likely not know whether these
arguments have swayed the President until Diawara and the
Committee submit their recommendations in August. Bah's
comments should not be viewed as definitive; the vast
majority of Malians are convinced that the two term limit is
inviolable, and a third term for the President may be more
important to Bah than it is to ATT. President Toure has also
remarked on many occasions over the past year that he regards
Mali's Millennium Challenge Compact--which runs concurrently
with his term of office--as his legacy to Mali once he leaves
office. One interesting wrinkle, of which President Toure,
Diawara and others are fully aware, is that rewriting Article
30 to allow President Toure to run for a third term would
likely also open the door for former President Alpha Oumar
Konare to challenge Toure for the presidency in 2012.
MCCULLEY
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM ML
SUBJECT: MALI BEGINS SIX MONTH CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW
REF: A. 07 BAMAKO 01059
B. 07 BAMAKO 00221
Classified By: Political Officer Aaron Sampson, Embassy Bamako, for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
1.(U) On March 7 a sixteen-member Review Committee for the
Consolidation of Democracy appointed by President Amadou
Toumani Toure began its six month review of Malian democracy.
President Toure announced his intention to review of all of
Mali's democratic texts, including the constitution and
electoral law, in September 2007 (Ref A). The Malian
government has described the review as an attempt to reflect
on 15 years of democratic experience in Mali and consolidate
Mali's democratic practices. The president of the Commission,
Daba Diawara, served as Minister of Civil Service and Labor
for then Col. Amadou Toumani Toure during Mali's 1991-1992
democratic transition. He has also been Minister of Health
and Secretary General of the Presidency under former
President Alpha Oumar Konare.
2.(U) On April 2 Diawara told the Embassy the Committee was
reviewing Mali's constitution, electoral law, equal access
rules for public and private media, political party charter,
campaign finance provisions and President Toure's proposal to
invest Mali's political opposition with formalized legal
status.
3.(U) Low participation rates during the 2007 presidential
and legislative elections are one reason for the Commission's
creation. Participation for the April 2007 presidential
election hovered around 35 percent. Participation for the
June-July legislative elections was around 30 percent
nationally and much lower in Bamako. Other motivating
factors were problems with the formulation of electoral
lists, the distribution of electoral cards, the management of
polling sites and the need to revise electoral dispute
resolution mechanisms.
4.(U) Diawara said the Committee was continuing a process
that was first initiated by Alpha Oumar Konare in 2001.
Local newspapers and others have already speculated that one
of the Commission's unstated goals is a constitutional change
that would enable President Toure to stand for a third term
in 2012. Article 30 of the Malian constitution currently
limits Presidents to two terms. There is some debate,
however, over whether Article 30 precludes only a sitting
President from running for a third term or if it bars any
individual who has previously served two terms, like Konare,
from running again after sitting out an election cycle.
5.(U) Diawara said the Committee was reviewing more than 60
of the constitution's 122 articles including the one
regarding presidential term limitations. He said elected
officials, political party leaders, former Prime Ministers
and others who have already met with the Committee have made
a variety of recommendations on amending Article 30, ranging
from enabling President Toure to run again, clarifying it to
eliminate any ambiguity over the two term limit, and leaving
the Article as it is. Diawara said he would not be able to
reveal the Commission's recommendations until it has been
submitted for review to President Toure in August. Any
changes to the constitution would have to be ratified by the
National Assembly and then approved by a national referendum.
6.(U) On April 5 Oumarou ag Mohamed Ibrahim Haidara, the
president of the High Council of Collectivities (HCC),called
on the Committee to formalize the 75 member HCC's status as
Mali's second house of parliament with a role similar to the
French Senate. Several advisors from the French Senate have
been working with Oumarou and the HCC on plans to invest the
HCC with more power. Oumarou's speech, which was delivered
in front of the diplomatic corps and Prime Minister Modibo
Sidibe, indicated that the creation of a bicameral
legislative system is one of constitutional changes the
Review Committee will likely recommend.
7.(C) Kader Bah, a member of President Toure's inner circle,
told EmbOff on March 4 that the Embassy should be expecting
the Malian government to propose changing the constitution so
that President Toure can run for a third term when the
Committee completes its work in August. He said the Malian
government was already planning for the mobilization of
religious leaders, students and others in support of a
"spontaneous" draft President Toure for a third term movement.
8.(C) Comment: Mali's Review Committee for the
Consolidation of Democracy is currently an internal affair.
Diawara said the Committee was planning on organizing a
conference for international experts that would focus
revisions to Mali's electoral law, but not Mali's
BAMAKO 00000353 002 OF 002
constitution, in May. While some members of President
Toure's inner circle are clearly pushing President Toure to
run for a third term, we will likely not know whether these
arguments have swayed the President until Diawara and the
Committee submit their recommendations in August. Bah's
comments should not be viewed as definitive; the vast
majority of Malians are convinced that the two term limit is
inviolable, and a third term for the President may be more
important to Bah than it is to ATT. President Toure has also
remarked on many occasions over the past year that he regards
Mali's Millennium Challenge Compact--which runs concurrently
with his term of office--as his legacy to Mali once he leaves
office. One interesting wrinkle, of which President Toure,
Diawara and others are fully aware, is that rewriting Article
30 to allow President Toure to run for a third term would
likely also open the door for former President Alpha Oumar
Konare to challenge Toure for the presidency in 2012.
MCCULLEY