Mali's new government has set November 24 as the date for the first parliamentary elections since a military coup last year that led to a sweeping Islamist occupation and a French-led military intervention.
The announcement comes two weeks after Mali's first post-war president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita appointed Prime Minister Oumar Tatam Ly to lead the west African nation's return to stability after 18 months of political chaos.
"Under the terms of the plan, the electoral college is called for Sunday, November 24, 2013, throughout the national territory and a second round of voting will take place Sunday, December 15, 2013 in constituencies where no candidate has obtained an absolute majority of votes cast in the first round," the minutes of a cabinet meeting published by the government said.
Ly offered the dates on Monday to the leaders of 15 political parties represented in parliament but the announcement has angered some groups who said they had not been given enough time to consider the proposal.
The United Front for Safeguarding Democracy and Republic (FDR), a grouping of 40 parties and around 100 civil society groups, said it was demanding a "consultation with the Malian political class" before agreeing to cooperate with the polls.
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"Lessons from the presidential elections must be learnt and our grievances must be taken into account before credible elections can happen," FDR senior official Djiguiba Keita told AFP.
