Mali: municipal and regional elections fixed on April 26th

Municipal and regional elections in Mali will take place on 26 April, said official sources in Bamako.

Originally planned in April 2014, these dates were postponed twice due to the security situation in the north.

‘The extension of the mandates of local authorities are limited to two, it becomes imperative to organize elections advice of local authorities at the end of the second extension’, which ends next April, according to the terms of a decree recently adopted by the Council of Ministers.

The campaign for these elections will be open Friday, April 10 and will close on 23 of the same month at midnight, says the source.

As for the overall budget for the organization of these elections, it is over 18 billion FCFA (about € 28.5 million) to finance a series of operations relating in particular to “the organization consultation executives of the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization with the presidents of political parties, civil society and technical and financial partners. ”

These operations also involve updating the biometric voter registration, management of voting cards and applications, training of officers and the exceptional review of the electoral operations and the acquisition of election material and locomotion.

It is also the return of the administration in the administrative districts and local authorities in the northern regions of Mali, the security of elections and the participation of refugees and displaced persons in the electoral process.

Under the provisions of the Electoral Act, the Code of Local Authorities and the special status of the District of Bamako, reappointments advice of local authorities in Mali should intervene every five years.