The first round of voting in Mali’s presidential election gave outgoing President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita a conclusive lead over his rival — but unresolved anger and finger-pointing over the results have highlighted some of the country’s divisions. Eighteen of the 24 candidates in the election joined forces Monday to demand the resignation of the minister of territorial administration and decentralisation, Mohamed Ag Erlaf. They accused him of being to blame for an “electoral robbery” and urged people in the capital Bamako to rally on Tuesday.
Keita won 41.42 percent of votes in the July 29 presidential poll in the sprawling west African nation, easily ahead of opposition leader Soumaila Cisse, in second place with 17.8 percent.
They will face each other in a runoff vote next Sunday.
Sources in Cisse’s entourage on Sunday said they had filed a case at the Constitutional Court over alleged “ballot-box stuffing, breach of electoral law and irregularities”.
Full Article: Suspicion of electoral fraud highlights divisions in Mali | MEO.
