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Mali: Coup leader restores old constitution
In his declaration, Sanogo said, “We take a solemn promise to re-establish from this day on the constitution of the Republic of Mali of February 25, 1992, as well as the institutions of the republic.”
“Taking into account the multi-dimensional crisis that our country is facing,” he added, “we have decided that, we will engage in consultations with all the actors of society in the context of a national convention in order to put in place a transitional body with the aim of organizing calm, free, transparent and democratic elections in which we will not participate.”
Legal experts say that his declaration is contradictory. If the 1992 constitution is reinstated, said law professor Malick Sarr at the University of Bamako, then logically the ousted president should become head of state again.
Sarr said the putschists may be leaning on one of the articles in the 1992 law, which says that in the event that the president is unable to carry out his functions, a 25- to 45-day transitional period will go into effect before new elections are held.
However, the article clearly stipulates that the transition will be led by the head of the national assembly who would become interim president. When reporters asked the coup leader if he still considered himself president, he dodged the question, and turned to leave.
After seizing the strategic northern towns of Kidal and Gao, Tuareg rebels on Sunday besieged the fabled city of Timbuktu, taking their fight for a homeland for the nomadic Tuareg people to the last major government holdout in northern Mali. They penetrated its defense by late morning and by afternoon, residents saw pickup trucks brandishing the rebel flag zipping through town.
Residents contacted by telephone said they were cowering inside their homes as blasts from heavy arms and automatic gunfire crackled early Sunday around the renowned Islamic intellectual center. Once they entered, resident Mohamed Lamine said he saw them take down the Malian flag at the governor’s office, attach it to the back of their pickup truck, and drive off, sullying the symbol of the Malian nation.
