Inspiring. Galleh thanx for sharing. I have been following the development  
of Democracy in Mali for quite some time and have noticed healthy progress in  
many areas. Some challenging issues remain in health and infrastructure but by 
 and large, those have to do with Mali's structural endowments than the  
appreciation of Democracy. Indeed ATT deserves high commendation and Mali is a  
showcase for Africa and a guiding light for America and Britain.
 
One area we in The GDP intend to focus on is the further integration of the  
Touareg in Northeastern Mali. There has been much progress that deserves our  
support and encouragement. Mali's prominence in cultural and Artistic  
integration is something to behold. She will make a good host for The GDP. The  
efforts in this area portend opportunities for Guinea Conakry and Senegal which  
share the Senegal River with Mali.
 
Thanx again Galleh.
Haruna.
 
In a message dated 3/4/2008 4:34:49 P.M. Mountain Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

If only our  so-called leaders would emulate Mali's Amadou Toumani Toure, our 
continent  would be much better off very soon. Check out the story  below.

Baba

President Orders Review of His Country's Democracy  
The Nation (Nairobi)NEWS5 March 2008 Posted to the web 4 March 2008 By  
Hamadou Tidiane Sy
He may have several enemies often criticising his one  "man show" and his 
governance style, but Malians no doubt unanimously admit  the invaluable 
contribution of Amadou Toumani Touré, Mali's current president,  to his country's 
transition, from a one-party system to a vibrant and strong  multi-party 
democracy. 

ATT as his fellow country people usually call  him, has just appointed a 
15-member task force - including the chairman,  former minister Daba Diawara and 
his two rapporteurs - to carry out the  necessary reflections to "strengthen" 
Mali's democratic model, some sort of  preventive cure, very rarely applied in 
African politics.  











The objective clearly assigned  to the newly launched "Committee of 
independent experts", is to find ways to  consolidate the Malian democratic model, to 
correct any dysfunctions in the  system. 

At the end of February, the committee's mission officially  kicked off after 
a ceremony presided by President Touré in the presence of all  political 
parties and other national public and private actors and  stakeholders. 

The decision comes at a time when Mali itself is facing  any trouble, nor 
heading to any immediate election which could have been a  source of suspicion or 
tension. 

Across Africa, the democratic  achievements of the early and mid 90s - which 
have generalised the practice of  multi-party politics and regular elections 
in several countries - are being  seriously questioned by some and challenged 
by the facts. 

In Mali,  "the institutional practices of the past 15 years have shown a 
certain number  of flaws and shortcomings which constitute matters of concern for 
the  political class as well as for the civil society organisations", 
President  Touré said when addressing the newly formed 15-member committee, headed by 
Mr  Diawara and comprising lawyers, university professors and civil society  
leaders. 

The Malian ruler also noted that despite "the many amendments  to the 
electoral Act and the Political parties Charter', the electoral process  and 
financing the political parties" remain problematic in his country, as has  been shown 
by the different polls organised since 1992, when the country  entered the 
democratic era under the leadership of ATT. 

During the  past 15 years in Mali, there have been four presidential and 
parliamentary  elections, all of which ended peacefully. Two of the presidential 
elections  ended with the incumbent head of state handing over power to his  
democratically elected successor with elegance and magnanimity.  

Through all this process, President Touré has featured among the main  
actors. 

More than a decade and half ago, President Toure, then an army  officer had 
put an end to the one party system after he toppled Moussa Traoré  in 1991. He 
then led a military transition government, reformed the country's  laws and 
brought in a new "democratic" constitution less than a year later and  allowed 
the country to experience its first multi-party, free and fair  elections. 

As the leader of the military transition, Mr Touré did not  take part in the 
election in 1992, which was to guarantee some fairness to the  process. 
As a consequence, he boosted his popularity among Malians and  established 
his credentials in Africa and the world as an example of good  leadership. 
This would later ensure his comeback and his election in 2002,  when he 
decided to officially retire from the army and enter the presidential  race as an 
independent candidate. He was re-elected in 2007, but was not happy  with the 
low turnout at his re-election. 

The same absence of voters  was also noted a few months later in 
parliamentary elections, when only a  third of the registered voters went to the polls. 

"We need to launch  an in-depth debate on those issues", Mr Ousmane Issoufi 
Maïga who was the then  Prime Minister said over the July 2007 parliamentary 
elections. He expressed  the wish that "all sections" of the country needed to 
be consulted to see what  was wrong with Mali's democracy. For the former prime 
minister, "it was  important for the youth, the women, the political parties, 
the civil society  organisations, opinion leaders, for everybody to meet to 
address these  issues". 

It now seems his voice has been heeded as the committee  appointed by 
President Touré has been officially mandated to go and "meet  everybody", in power or 
in opposition, in political parties or outside  political parties, anybody 
deemed fit to bring their input before the  submission of the committee's final 
report in August this year. 

And,  the head of state has pledged to give the committee the necessary 
financial  support. 

Among the major issues to be addressed are the recurrent  issues of electoral 
fraud, low participation, funding of political parties,  voter registration, 
low representation of political parties in polling  stations and lack of voter 
education. 

In a nutshell, all those issues  which are polluting the political atmosphere 
almost everywhere in Africa  including in Mali, and some other parts of the 
world, because they constitute  the basis for free, fair and transparent 
elections. 

Other issues the  committee will have to work on are much less contentious 
but have to do with  the rationalisation and effectiveness of the electoral 
system, such as the  number of institutions involved in organising the voting 
process, the use of  public funds for political parties and the status and role of 
strong and  credible opposition. 

"At a time when the international community is  hailing Mali's democracy, the 
president has diagnosed a deeply rooted illness.  Apparently only the real 
national actors can perceive this illness", a Malian  national, Al Hassane 
Maiga, wrote in a commentary published by local paper Le  Challenger and reproduced 
online. 

In Mali, so far and despite all the  "flaws and shortcoming" detected in the 
system by the nation and its  president, no electoral process or political 
antagonism has generated the  chaos and violence it has brought to other parts of 
the continent.  

President Touré himself could have said that this is his last term in  office 
and start preparing for his retirement - why not? Or, he could  concentrate 
on ways to modify the constitution so as to pave the way to a  third term for 
himself - isn't President Paul Biya trying to do so in  Cameroon? Didn't the 
Chadian president and many other African leaders do it in  the past decade to 
the point of leading their countries into political  deadlocks? 

Question itself 

For president Touré, what is at  stake is clear. "I am convinced that the 
vitality of a democracy lies in its  ability to constantly question itself", he 
told the taskforce ahead of their  starting their mission which also includes 
work on questions beyond politics  and elections, to include the relationships 
between the different institutions  in the country, their respective powers 
and competence. 

This plunge  into the governance system as a whole will probably give more 
clout and  credibility to the committee's work and the country's stature as a 
democratic  model in the world and in Africa. And as yet the "independence" of 
the  committee members has not been publicly criticised by any major political  
party or organisation. 

President Touré has assured Mr Diawara of his  support as he chairs the 
committee's work noting his understanding of the  political institutions and his 
independence and moral integrity. 

In  any case, some members of the public and the Malian media have warned  
committee members against any attempt at pleasing President Touré in their  
final recommendations by trying to touch "article 30 of the Constitution", the  
article which puts limitation to the number of terms in office. 

The  atmosphere 

"Nobody ignores the atmosphere which characterised the 1992  constitutional 
changes. Have things evolved so substantially to the point of  inspiring a 
modification of article 30 to grant ATT a third mandate?", a  Malian newspaper, Le 
Républicain, asked in its February 29 issue. 

For  the newspaper, the answer is clear "if there's a consensus about the 
need to  modify (some parts of) the constitution (?) changing article 30 to allow 
a  third term is out of the question. The military dictatorship has left  
indelible marks which make any extension of the presidential mandate an  occasion 
for bad memories to emerge", the newspaper concluded. 

In  fact, ATT does not seem to be interested in such a move in his favour, at 
 least for now. He has already been a former head of state and knows the  
respect one can gain nationally and internationally by accepting to play by  the 
rules of the game and leaving when it's time to leave. 

Moreover he  now knows, through his own personal experience, that there's a 
life after the  presidency and that this life can be as active, exciting, 
challenging and  rewarding (at times even more) than the life in the presidential 
palace. For  now he has another four years to go before coming to this choice 
which for  many African rulers often appears as a dilemma.  
_________________________________________________________________
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