Keita wins majority in Mali’s run-off election

MALI’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won a second five-year term in the turbulent West African nation with more than 67% of the vote in a run-off election, the Ministry of Territorial Administration said yesterday.

Opposition leader Soumaila Cisse received over 32% of the vote in Sunday’s run-off that had an estimated turnout of 34% amid threats of violence from extremist groups. The turn-out dropped from the first round, in which nearly 43% of voters made it to the polls.

The constitutional court must approve the results by August 22.

“We are very happy for this well-earned victory for our president,” said Mahamadou Camara, spokesperson for Keita. “Malians have expressed a choice which had already been evident since the first round. Our candidate came in first. We are not scared of a post-election crisis.”

Cisse supporters gathered in the capital, Bamako, shouting in disappointment. The 68-year-old opposition leader has blamed Keita for the country’s insecurity, and his party alleged fraud in the first round and warned against it in the run-off.

“We are not in agreement with these results. It’s Cisse who won, and we will march in protest because IBK stole our victory,” said 33-year-old Oumar Toure, referring to the president by his initials.

It was not immediately clear whether Cisse’s party would challenge the run-off ’s results in court

The 73-year-old president leads a nation that has grown more insecure since he beat Cisse in a second-round election in 2013.

The extremists have been staging more brazen attacks that have spread into central Mali, where both Islamic State and al-Qaedalinked militants are present. Deadly communal clashes between ethnic groups and accusations of heavy-handed counter-terror operations have caused even deeper tension and mistrust of the state.

In northern and central Mali more than 50 polling stations had closed before noon on Sunday because of threats by extremists, according to the Citizen Observation Pool of Mali which had more than 2 000 observers.

The observers also reported several incidents of violence on voting day, including the killing of a village chairman and the harassment of at least four election workers.

A number of polling stations were burnt. In Bamako, voting was also hindered by rains. – AP