Malians go to polls in run-off election
Keita set to win despite surge in ethnic, militant violence
MALIANS started voting in a run-off presidential election yesterday, with incumbent Ibrahim Boubacar Keita expected to beat the opposition challenger despite a surge in ethnic and militant violence during his tenure.
The first round on July 29 was marred by armed attacks and other security incidents at about a fifth of polling places. The risk of violence threatened to dampen turnout yesterday but as voting got under way, no serious incidents were reported.
The chaotic first round was a reminder that militants, some linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State, have regrouped since a French intervention in 2013 and are now expanding their influence across Mali’s desert north and into the fertile centre.
Dramane Camara, 31, was the first to vote at one polling station in a school in the capital Bamako.
“I voted without problem,” Camara said.
“I expect the new president to solve the problem of the north, which is peace. Because the return of peace means the return of NGOs, investors, thus creating jobs.”
Keita took 41% of the vote in last month’s first round against nearly 18% for Soumalia Cisse, a former finance minister and the main opposition leader.
Cisse subsequently accused Keita’s government of voting fraud but the constitutional court upheld the result.
Cisse, 68, blames Keita, 73, for the worsening violence and accuses his government of rampant corruption.
“Continuing on the path followed by those who had the heavy responsibility to preside over the destiny of our country would lead us closer to chaos and the abyss,” Cisse warned at his final campaign rally on Friday.
Civil society website Malilink recorded 932 militant attacks in the first half of this year, almost double those for the entire 2017. Their activities in Mali and its Sahel neighbours have unnerved Western powers like France and the US that have deployed thousands of troops across the region.
Jihadists are also stoking inter-communal conflict, mostly between herders and pastoralists. Killings along ethnic lines have claimed hundreds of civilian lives this year, including at least 11 last week in the central Mopti region.
Keita’s better-than-expected firstround showing and Cisse’s failure to win endorsements from the third and fourth-place finishers augur well for the incumbent. Keita beat Cisse in a 2013 run-off and is seeking a second five-year term.
At his final rally in the capital Bamako on Friday, Keita struck a confident tone. “Some people were sceptical that these elections could take place. Some called on me to withdraw,” he said. “But we had the capacity to organise credible elections and we’ve done so.”
Despite the militant threat, Malian polls have generally gone peacefully without post-election violence common to many countries in the region.