Violence over Mali’s Presidential Election 2018: CISSE expects run-off
File photo: Polling Station in Mali/DW
Mali’s Presidential Election has started and the opposition party standing against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, SoumailaCisse ensured that the poll would be a run-off between the two parties.SoumailaCisse is representing the Union for the Republic and Democracy, who had also served as the Finance Minister in 1993. However, the entire situation of the polls didn’t go well when some violent incidents halted the process in some of the country’s voting polls. This year’s Presidential election stands crucial for Mali as Ibrahim Boubacar Keita had sought the second term in office facing strong opposition from SoumailaCisse who had been trying to defeat his opposition by assuring the people of Mali with ‘change’ and a ‘new hope’, which has emerged as the party’s top priority for the Presidential Election 2018.
But violence marred over the Presidential election and when the counting was underway. The government officials said that no ballots were cast at some 716 polling stations representing some 3% of the country’s total population. The news also mentioned that these polling stations were located at the Northern and central region of Mali and have been under Islamic extremism and attacks for some time now. Election officials were beaten up, ballot boxes were burned down and election supervisors were not allowed to enter the booths and blocked by the armed groups. The voting process was very slow in the capital city of Bamako, and the turnout was even less.
Security was kept amongst the top priority of the whole election from all the parties that are up for contestation. The world is expecting for a positive result for Mali and hopes that the current unrest caused by the extremist group comes to an end and that the country can move toward its path of development without any obstacle.
*Arijita Sinha Roy is a Research Intern at The Kootneeti
