Malians vote in presidential election amid insecurity
Malians voted on Sunday to decide whether or not to give President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita a second term, amid widespread ethnic and extremist violence that has dramatically worsened since he came to power five years ago.
Two dozen other candidates were contesting the presidency in a largely Saharan desert nation that has been fractured by a Tuareg rebellion and extremist militancy across its north and central zones since the last poll in 2013.
Insecurity is such that in some parts of the country the vote will simply not happen, and the European Union observer mission urged the government on Saturday to publish a list of places that will be unable to vote, so as to quell suspicions by candidates of "fictitious polling stations."
Eight million voters are enrolled. Voting mostly began as scheduled at polling stations in the capital Bamako at 8 a.m. (0800 GMT). Polls close at 6 p.m. Opposition candidates include businessmen, an astrophysicist, and just one woman.
The threat of violence was on the minds of voters, which could reduce turnout in a country where only 40 percent vote on average.
A Reuters witness said it was calm in Timbuktu on Sunday after days of unrest leading up to the polls.
The head of the EU observer mission Cecile Kyenge said the mission had been informed of certain incidents in the north and center, on which she declined to elaborate, but otherwise the vote had started peacefully.
"I would urge caution. The opening is just a small part. It's still too early to pronounce (on the process)," she said.
In the past three years, extremist attacks have tripled and violent deaths doubled, according to civil society website Malilink. Extremists have spread from the north to the center and even targeted Bamako - as in 2015, when gunmen killed 20 people in a raid on a hotel - as well as Mali's neighbors.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission to Mali has suffered more deaths than any in history, with some 170 peacekeepers killed, and human rights groups have raised the alarm over alleged executions by security forces.
Malian elections meanwhile have so far been peaceful. Yet opposition candidates have cried foul over alleged tampering of the electoral list, and Cisse told thousands of supporters on Friday the government was planning to steal the election.
Western countries such as France, as well as the United Nations, are heaping pressure on all sides not to allow any dispute to boil over into violence.
(Source: Reuters)
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