President Keita favourite to win Mali poll overshadowed by militant threat
Malians voted in a run-off presidential election on Sunday, 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, as well as opposition charges of fraud.
But as voting got underway, no serious incidents were reported. Soldiers ran body checks on voters in the capital Bamako as they waited in line under rainy skies to cast their ballots.
Dramane Camara, 31, was the first to vote at one polling station in a school in the capital Bamako.
“I voted without problem, I came to fulfill my duty as a citizen,” 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, so creating jobs.”
The chaotic first round was a reminder that militants, some linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, have regrouped since French troops intervened in 2013 to push them back. They are now expanding their influence across Mali’s desert north and into the fertile centre.
Their presence in the vast West African nation and their ability to spread violence to its neighbours has kept Mali high on the list of Western powers’ security concerns. Former colonial ruler France and the United States have deployed thousands of troops across the region.
The 73-year-old Keita called for a peaceful day and urged people not respond to any provocation as he voted in Bamako on Sunday morning. “I pledge that all the difficulties we faced are now behind us,” he told cheering supporters.
The government has stepped up security for the run-off, deploying an extra 6,000 troops on top of the 30,000 already on duty. Mopti region in central Mali, where most of the attacks in the first round took place, is a particular concern.
Keita, who is seeking a second five-year term, took 41 percent of the vote in last month’s first round against nearly 18 percent for Soumalia Cisse, 68, a former finance minister and the main opposition leader.
Cisse, who lost against Keita before in a peaceful 2013 run-off, subsequently accused Keita’s government of voting fraud but the constitutional court upheld the result.
Cisse blames Keita for the worsening violence and accuses his government of rampant corruption. Civil society website Malilink recorded 932 militant attacks in the first half of 2018, almost double that for all of 2017.
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 Mopti region.
OPPOSTION PROTEST
Keita’s better-than-expected first-round showing and Cisse’s failure to win endorsements from the third and fourth-place finishers augur well for the incumbent.
At his final rally in the capital Bamako on Friday, Keita — known as IBK — struck a confident tone.
“Some people were sceptical that these elections could take place. Some called on me to withdraw,” he said above the din of his supporters’ vuvuzelas. “Let them understand that we had the capacity to organise credible elections and we have done so.”
On Saturday evening, about 100 opposition supporters demonstrated in Bamako’s Liberty Square to complain about the result of the first round.
Chanting “No to electoral fraud” and calling for transparency in the second round, they said there had been many instances of cheating in the first vote.
Armed troops watched over the protest but did not intervene.
Despite the militant threat, Malian polls have generally gone peacefully without the post-election violence common to many countries in the region.
Fatoumata Cissé, a 38-year-old teacher, said: “I voted, no problem. I voted IBK. He has a positive balance especially for us teachers, our living conditions have improved. I hope that it will continue to improve the conditions of workers.”
