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2023 Malian constitutional referendum

A constitutional referendum was held in Mali on 18 June 2023. It was initially scheduled for 9 July 2017. However, in late June 2017 it was postponed with no date set, before being revived in mid-April 2021, with a date set of 31 October 2021. Due to the 2021 Malian coup d'état it was indefinitely postponed, with plans for it to be held by 2024. It was later scheduled for 19 March 2023, but then postponed again. On 5 May 2023 the ruling junta announced in a decree that it would be held on 18 June.

Constitutional changes
Proposed amendements to the constitution included the following: • Two new regions would be created in line with a 2015 agreement with separatists in northern Mali. • A new upper house of parliament would be created, known as the Senate, with one-quarter of its members appointed by the president. Representation would be based on the regions, affording more representation to the sparsely populated but extensive north, with the remaining members being indirectly elected by local authorities. • The president may also call referendums on "any question of national interest or any bill relating to the organization of state institutions after receiving the advisory opinion of the Constitutional Court". • The presidential term remains unchanged (directly elected for five years, with a maximum of two terms) and forms one of the entrenched clauses, along with the nature of the state as a secular republic, as well as the multi-party system. • Traditional and religious courts are legalised. Elected regional councils would also be set up in the ten regions of Mali, including the two newly created in the north. A Court of Auditors would also be created. • Marriage would be defined as "a union between a man and a woman", effectively banning same-sex marriage. • Any future constitutional revision must be voted in favour of by two-thirds of each of the two houses of the legislature, followed by approval in a referendum. ==Campaign==
Campaign
The referendum was supported by the Union for the Republic and Democracy and the Democratic Alliance for Peace, while part of the opposition (including the Convergence for the Development of Mali) opposed it, noting that under the prior constitution a vote in the legislature would be needed to approve it first. Additionally, the composition of the electoral authority was called into question, with junta leader Assimi Goïta having appointed ten of its fifteen members instead of the three provided for by law. Retaining the mention of the country being a secular state was opposed by the Malian League of Imams and Scholars for Islamic Solidarity in Mali. ==Results==
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