Opposition candidate disputing defeat in Mali presidential runoff
BAMAKO, Mali — Mali’s oppositionleaderonfridayrejectedthe announcement that President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was the winner of a presidential runoff in this West African nation, saying he would be filing a fraud complaint to the Constitutional Court.
Soumaila Cisse held a news conference to declare that, according to results from his party, Cisse instead won the runoff with 51.75 percent of the vote to Keita’s 48.25 percent.
“I reject the results proclaimed by the Ministry of Territorial Administrationthatdonotreflectthevoteof Malians,” Cisse said.
The Constitutional Court has until Aug. 22 to approve the election results.
The Ministry of Territorial Administration said Thursday that Keita won a second five-year term in the turbulent nation, capturing more than 67 percent of the vote to Cisse’s 32 percent.
More than 2.7 million Malians voted in Sunday’s runoff, a 34 percent turnout, despite threats made by extremist groups.
European Union observers said there were irregularities during Sunday’s vote but did not say there was fraud.
Afterthedeclarationoftheresults, Keita received congratulations from French President Emmanuel Macron, whose military has been engaged in Mali in the fight against extremism.
U.N. Secretary-general Antonio Guterres also called the 73-year-old incumbent to congratulate him.
The U.N. has had more than 12,000 peacekeepers in the turbulent country since 2013.
As Keita supporters celebrated Thursday night, the capital city of Bamako experienced a restless night. Cisse supporters marched with anti-keita signs, denouncing the results.
Keita leads a nation that has grown more insecure since he beat Cisse in a second-round election in 2013, the same year that French-backed forces pushed extremists in the north from their strongholds. Keita took power the year after a military coup usheredinaneraofchaosthatallowed the extremists to flourish.