Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maïga chaired yesterday, at the International Conference Center of Bamako (CICB), the first session of appropriation of the draft Constitution, for the members of the Steering Committee of the strategy of popularization of the fundamental text and all members of government. He had at his side the Minister of State, Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Government Spokesman, Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga and the one in charge of the Refoundation of the State, Ibrahim Ikassa Maïga.
The meeting will allow the members of the Steering Committee to decide on the extension strategy, to understand the content and the spirit of the draft Constitution, and to help design the language elements and documentary supports of the said strategy. And above all to review the main provisions of the draft Constitution, in particular the many refounding innovations that the document contains.
In his introductory speech, the Minister for the Refoundation of the State, in charge of Relations with the Institutions, recalled that after the official submission of the finalized draft Constitution, the President of the Transition, in the spirit of a commitment infallible to give substance to the conclusions of the National Refoundation Meeting (ANR), instructed the government to proceed with the wide popularization of the text among the Malian forces of the interior and the diaspora.
As part of the execution of this instruction, a Steering Committee for the popularization of the text was created by decree of the Prime Minister and placed with the ministry in charge of the Refoundation of the State. This committee is made up of a Strategic Orientation Commission (COS) and a Coordination Unit (CC).
INCREASE IN POWER OF REFORMS- The Minister in charge of the Refoundation of the State to continue that the COS which held its first inaugural session last Thursday, is responsible for guiding and boosting popularization activities, while ensuring to their implementation. It is under the authority of this Commission that the Coordination Unit, which is responsible for developing and implementing the scientific and educational design of the reference documents, and for ensuring the material and logistical organization, as well as that the security supervision of extension activities, met last Monday.
In this regard, Ibrahim Ikassa Maïga invited all the participants to a synergy of actions in order to ensure better ownership of the draft Constitution. The occasion being also opportune for him to emphasize that, like the National Army, “we are now beginning the phase of the rise in power of political, electoral, administrative and institutional reforms through the creation of the Independent Authority for the Management of Elections (Aige), the completion of the administrative reorganization and the draft Constitution”, he noted.
In his opening speech, the Prime Minister encouraged the members of the government to take ownership of the content of the draft Constitution which constitutes a refounding text of the new Republic of Mali. For Dr. Choguel Kokalla Maïga, the role of the government is to fight to explain to as many Malians as possible so that this draft Constitution passes democratically. “That’s what the president expects of us, because he’s finished his job. Now, it only remains for him to take the decree setting the date of the referendum poll in due time,” explained the Prime Minister.
According to the Head of Government, the ANRs, which now constitute the political and historical repository, are the basis of everything that the authorities of the Transition undertake, stressing that the revision of the Constitution is a major recommendation of the said Assizes. With regard to the fundamental reservations of the draft fundamental law, the head of government invited the participants to communicate their suggestions in order to forward them to the President of the Transition, who is now the only person authorized to make changes to the draft. This, before its submission to the Malians for the Yes vote by an overwhelming majority, wished the Prime Minister.
During the session of exchanges with the experts, the concerns of the members of the government essentially related to the problem of the adaptation of the elements of language in relation to the notions of secularism, the representation of Malians established abroad in the chambers of Congress (National Assembly and Senate), the reorganization of the powers of the President of the Republic, the reduction of his privileges, the reduction of the immunity of parliamentarians…
The ceremony was marked by the presentation of the draft Constitution by the experts Pr Harouna Diallo and Pr Jeremie Coulibaly with particular emphasis on major innovations.
Aboubacar TRAORE
Source: Growth