Mali votes in runoff amid heavy security to counter militant threat

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Malians voted in a run-off presidential election on Sunday but observers reported that turnout appeared to be low, with several polling stations coming under attack from armed men and one election official killed.

Thousands of soldiers had been mobilized to provide security following an inconclusive first round last month that was marred by militant attacks and opposition allegations of fraud.

But the Mali Citizen Observation Pool (POCIM) said there had been a “persistent climate of tension in some polling centers in Segou, Bamako and several other localities” in the run-off.

Armed men had killed the chairman of the electoral office in Arkodia village in Niafunke, it said. There was no immediate confirmation from the government.

Incumbent President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, 73, is expected to win a second term even though he has been unable to stem a surge in ethnic and militant violence.

Opposition challenger Soumalia Cisse, 68, a former finance minister, said however he was confident of victory but he also accused the government camp of trying to stuff ballot boxes.

A man casts his vote next to the head of the European Union Election Observer mission in Mali, Cecile Kyenge (R), at a polling station in Bamako during the counting of the votes after the second round of Mali's presidential elections, August 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

Elections observers giving initial assessments said most polling stations were functioning well. Soldiers ran body checks on voters in the capital Bamako as they waited in line under rainy skies to cast their ballots.

“I voted without a problem. I came to fulfill my duty as a citizen,” said Dramane Camara, 31, at a polling station in a school in Bamako. “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.”

However, POCIM said that in polling centers its observers covered, the participation rate was about 8 percent at midday. In Bamako, it was as low as 4.8 percent. Polls closed at 6 p.m. local time. Turnout in the first round was about 42 percent.

Two polling stations were set on fire in Douentza district and electoral agents were threatened, it said.

Head of the European Union Election Observer mission in Mali, Cecile Kyenge, addresses the media outside a polling station in Bamako during the second round of Mali's presidential election, August 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

Voting was halted in Sendegue and Takoutala, two villages in Mopti region after armed men chased away electoral agents.

“In general, there have been problems with a lack of ballot papers, poor quality ink, and a failure to display voters lists in front of the polling stations,” POCIM said in a statement.

The first round on July 29 was marred by armed attacks and other security incidents at about a fifth of polling places.

The government stepped up security for the run-off, putting 6,000 troops on the streets on top of 30,000 already on duty.

Keita urged people not to respond to any provocation as he voted in Bamako. “I pledge that all the difficulties we faced are now behind us,” he told cheering supporters.

Keita – known as IBK – took 41 percent of the vote in the first round against nearly 18 percent for Cisse.

Results from the first round took five days to emerge and authorities have not said when they expect the run-off result to be announced.

Cisse, who lost against Keita in 2013, said he was confident of victory when he voted in his hometown Niafunke. “We traveled across the whole country and we found an extremely strong desire for change everywhere,” he said.

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, president of Mali and candidate of Rally for Mali party (RPM), speaks during a rally, ahead of the second round of Mali's presidential election, in Bamako, Mali, August 10, 2018. /VCG Photo

Cisse also accused the other side of cheating, saying in Bamako they had found people before the vote who already had ballot papers.

Cisse, who blames Keita for the worsening violence and accuses his government of rampant corruption, also alleged fraud in the first round but the constitutional court upheld the result.

(Top photo: Election workers start counting the ballots during a run-off presidential election in Bamako, Mali, August 12, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Reuters