After war and two elections, Mali has a president
| Bamako, Mali
Malians weary of war and two rounds of elections sighed with relief Tuesday night when it was announced early that they had a president. The former finance minister, Soumaila Cisse, conceded defeat to the former prime minister, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, despite some qualms.聽
Mr. Cisse had charged voter irregularity in the hours after Sunday鈥檚 runoff vote. But Mr. Keita鈥檚 lead was so great in the initial polling that he decided not to contest the outcome and instead visited the winner鈥檚 home last evening -- and later today announced that he was creating Mali's first serious opposition party.聽
That now leaves the West African country with Keita as president, a tough veteran and member of the political elite who is known in Mali as 鈥淚BK.鈥�
Keita is regarded as a wily negotiator, a friend of the military, and the choice of the French, the former colonial power, whose troops entered Mali in January to stop the advance of radical Islamist forces at the invitation of the acting Mali government.
Keita was the favorite to win after scoring more than twice the percentage of votes, 40 percent, than did Cisse, who came in at 19 percent. Under Mali election rules (as in France), a runoff is held unless one candidate wins an outright majority.聽
Last evening, French President Fran莽ois Hollande phoned Keita to congratulate him.
The clear victory also now opens the path for some $4 billion in aid that was tied by donor nations to the completion of fair elections.
A US State Department spokesperson said the elections meant the US government would begin to 鈥渘ormalize our foreign assistance to Mali,鈥� along with more than 100 other states that attended a pledge meeting in May.聽
As the Monitor reported on Monday:聽
Ballot-counting is under way in聽Mali聽after voters took to the polls Sunday in the final round of presidential elections that are widely seen as a first step to rebuilding the war-torn West African nation.
Mali forged ahead July 28 with a first round of elections despite calls for a delay by some local politicians and several prominent international NGOs that said it was too early. In January Mali saw a French-led war against Islamic radicals that itself followed a military coup last year.聽
The July vote saw a record turnout but not an outright majority winner, setting the stage for a runoff between former prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and ex-finance minister Soumalia Ciss茅.
Yesterday's vote was orderly and peaceful. In the morning, Malians in聽Bamako聽braved torrential downpours in the early morning to cast their votes. In muddy courtyards throughout the city, long lines seemed to favor male voters but represented a mix of Mali鈥檚 diverse population.
Most women, many with a child in tow, wore new, colorful wax-print outfits purchased for the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Other women dressed in all black with their faces veiled by a niqab, a growing trend among women in some neighborhoods. Businessmen in suits stood next to men in flowing traditional robes, rubbing elbows with youth in skinny jeans and fashionably tight t-shirts.
Results are expected to be finalized as early as Wednesday. 聽
Sunday鈥檚 vote capped off a lethargic week of campaigning, which featured few events and a cancelled debate between the two candidates.
On Friday, Mr. Ciss茅 held his final rally of the campaign season in the nouveau riche neighborhood of ACI 2000. Despite musical acts and appearances by local celebrities, the concert drew under 2,000 people, with campaign organizers desperately urging the crowd to chant Ciss茅鈥檚 nickname, 鈥淪oumi Champion.鈥�
Mr. Keita, known locally by his initials, IBK, took a subdued approach to the final week of the campaign, opting to stay largely out of the public eye. Keita鈥檚 supporters also organized a concert in the center of town on Friday evening, but the event never quite materialized.
Mali, a poor, landlocked country once called a model of democracy, imploded last year when a coup in Bamako paved the way for a mosaic of rebel groups to capture a vast desert expanse roughly the size of Texas.
Sunday鈥檚 vote comes just six months after聽France聽intervened to halt an ambitious rebel push southward and to liberate northern Mali from Islamist rebels - some with links to Al Qaeda - who had spent the better part of a year consolidating control over the country鈥檚 north.
The international community, particularly the US and France, had been calling for elections as a condition to releasing nearly $4 billion in pledged aid and assistance.
Though July鈥檚 first round of vote saw Malians participate in record numbers - a 48 percent turnout that shattered Mali鈥檚 previous high of 38 percent 鈥� election observers noted that Sunday鈥檚 vote is likely to have a lower yield.
But those who did vote expressed optimism.
鈥淭his is a very important day,鈥� said Ibrahim Traor茅, a university student who voted for Keita, 鈥渆veryone here voted for IBK. Everyone knows he is the man to restore our dignity and our honor,鈥� Mr. Traor茅 continued, borrowing terms that featured prominently in Keita鈥檚 campaign advertising.
Thus far, election observers from the African Union, European Union, and a network of Malian organizations have confirmed that the vote took place without major incident. However, the Ciss茅 campaign took to Twitter in the early afternoon to voice accusations of vote-rigging and fraud.
Early indicators suggest that IBK is likely to win by a comfortable margin, though official results are not expected until midweek.
