They have lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court, arguing that many lapses still exist.

The feasibility of holding general elections in Mali on July 28, 2013 has been put into question by several presidential candidates who have lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court, demanding postponement. The complaint came as campaigning for the elections began on July 7, 2013.

Radio France Internationale, RFI quoted Tiébilé Dramé, one of the candidates as arguing that because of the rebel occupation of the northern town of Kidal, voters’ rolls were not drawn up in 11 councils and so voters have not been identified. He said this was against the 1992 Constitution that grants universal suffrage for the election of President.   

Dramé, who helped negotiate a recent peace accord in Burkina Faso, said the law was violated because people cannot be expected to vote without voters’ lists established all over the country. Previous demands for the postponement of the poll have been rejected by the government. On its part, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation recently acquired four-wheel drive vehicles worth FCFA 750 million for distribution to Governors and Senior Divisional Officers in Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal Regions in order to ensure hitch-free polls, L’Essor newspaper reported.

In a similar development, Mali’s army has accused the MNLA Tuareg rebel group of breaching a peace accord in the flashpoint northeastern town of Kidal by attacking civilians and soldiers, AFP said. Army spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Diarran Kone said rebels mobilised women and children to throw stones at the black population, African peacekeeping troops and Malian soldiers when they entered the town on July 5, 2013.

Kidal has been occupied by the MNLA since last January but the rebels agreed, as part of the ceasefire deal reached in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to let government troops in ahead of the forthcoming presidential election.