Mali junta announces constitution

BAMAKO - Agence France-Presse

Life in Mali’s capital is slowly returning to normal after the military coup. AP photo

Mali’s junta on March 27 announced a new constitution that rules its members out of upcoming elections, seeking to show it will not cling to power as West African leaders planned a mediation visit.

Five days after the internationally condemned military coup that toppled President Amadou Toumani Toure, the junta lifted its night-time curfew and reopened the borders in a bid to show the country was returning to normal. West African bloc (ECOWAS) meeting in neighboring Ivory Coast on March 27 again denounced the coup -- and warned that the region’s troops were on standby if the junta failed to engage in dialogue.

On the streets of Mali’s capital meanwhile, businesses reopened and Malians went to work, heeding a call from the military junta. In another statement read out by a soldier on Mali state television, the junta said the new constitution would guarantee the rule of law and basic human rights in “a pluralist democracy.”