Mali announces indefinite postponement of July 9 constitutional referendum

The Malian government has announced a postponement of a referendum scheduled to have taken place on July 9 this year.

The indefinite postponement was announced on Wednesday after a cabinet meeting, where reports indicate that three parties in the governing coalition pushed for the delay.

“The council of ministers has decided to delay until a future date the referendum initially set for July 9,” a government statement said. There has yet to be official communication on reasons behind the decision.

The referendum was meant to reinforce presidential powers and also create new regions as per a 2015 peace accord signed by the government and separatist groups in the north.

The West African countries continues to suffer from militancy in its north where militants activities has resulted in deadly attacks on civilian populations and on security forces.

Aside the state security actors, the United Nations has a mission in the country in addition to a French force under the Operation Berkhane codename. The Mali peacekeeping mission has been labeled one of the deadliest in the world.