Legislators in Mali will have to try harder to win support for the next draft of their new family code after the president sent it back to parliament on 27 August for re-drafting.<\/p>\n
The current draft code recognizes only secular marriages, increases the legal marrying age to 18, gives girls inheritance rights, and makes women equal with their husbands at home, according to lawmakers who said they had not done enough to get backing for controversial parts of the family code.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe demonstrated intellectual laziness in adopting the last code so quickly. This time, the assembly will start from zero,\u201d parliamentarian Mountaga Tall told IRIN. He said legislators will hear the arguments of the nation\u2019s highest Islamic body on 10 controversial points which have sparked demonstrations and threats of civil disobedience and violence.<\/p>\n
President Amadou Toumani Tour\u00e9 sent the code back to the assembly, recognizing the government\u2019s more than two-decade struggle to pursue \u201cthe dual objective of promoting a wave of modernization while preserving the foundations of our society\u201d.<\/p>\n
Since the adoption of the country\u2019s first family code in 1962, the president said repeated failures to update and enforce it \u201cproves that societal change is not ordered by decree\u201d. Tour\u00e9 said the \u201cdoor of debate is still open\u201d.<\/p>\n
The secretary of Mali\u2019s highest ruling Islamic council, Mohamed Kimbiri, told IRIN that despite consulting the council about the code, lawmakers had not heeded Islamic leaders\u2019 input on contentious points.<\/p>\n
Following the president\u2019s recent move, the Islamic council called off planned demonstrations against the code \u201cuntil further notice\u201d.<\/p>\n
Opposition to the code <\/strong><\/p>\n The head of a national non-profit group of Muslim women in Mali, Hadja Safiatou Demb\u00e9l\u00e9, told IRIN that while she recognized the code was intended to benefit women, she had not supported it. \u201cWe say we agree with revolution and equality, but not an equality which shatters family harmony and puts us on a par with our spouses.\u201d She said Muslim women want a code that respects societal and religious values.<\/p>\n Secondary school professor Bintou Camara told IRIN women cannot have equal standing with men. \u201cThere cannot be two bosses in the same family. It is the man who is always in control. I want to leave the term \u2018obedience\u2019 in place.\u201d She said the legal marrying age of 18 is too old. \u201cAt 12 years old already, many girls are mature and know much about life at that age.\u201d She told IRIN 15 is a good legal age for marriage.<\/p>\n Oumar Coulibaly, a baker working 400km south of the capital Bamako in Koutiala, told IRIN he did not understand why the code was being reconsidered. \u201cWe already have our daily problems with the rising cost of living. Why do they want to foist on us a code the origins of which I do not know?\u201d<\/p>\n The president\u2019s head of communications, Kader Ma\u00efga, told IRIN the president did not sign the code – which included more than 1,100 articles, about 10 of which are contested – out of respect for public opinion. \u201cWe are in a democracy. Why impose something that does not have unanimous support?\u201d<\/p>\n The 13-year history of the most recent attempt to adjust the 1962 family law included regional meetings, and multiple readings and revisions, which resulted in parliament approving the family code, according to President Tour\u00e9.<\/p>\n Round two <\/strong><\/p>\n Ma\u00efga told IRIN lawmakers would \u201clisten to all sectors of society\u201d while reconsidering the articles which sparked the most heated dissent, and address this criticism in the revised code. \u201cWe will then ask all parties to go to their bases of support to explain the code,\u201d he told IRIN.<\/p>\n Municipal adviser Walett Rachette in the country\u2019s northern region of Timbuktu told IRIN the controversy surrounding the code\u2019s passage mirrored past attempts to enforce the family code. \u201cWe should not wake old demons here.\u201d She told IRIN lawmakers could only avoid a backlash by working with leaders to redraft the code.<\/p>\n Oumar Tour\u00e9, a lawmaker who had voted for the code, said he felt dejected at having to contend again with the first bill to have been sent back for redrafting since multi-party democracy was founded in Mali in 1992. \u201cOur constituents did not take the time to try to understand the code, which explains the toxic reaction we witnessed\u2026 The lawmakers who adopted the code are for the most part of the Muslim faith\u2026 I do not think they would engage in an act that went against their own religion,\u201d he told IRIN.<\/p>\n