Mali's presidential election goes smoothly

This presidential election is expected to open a new chapter to bring peace and stability to Mali.

On July 28, the people of Mali went to the polls to elect a President. Polling stations in Mali opened at 6:00 a.m. and closed at 6:00 p.m. on July 28 (local time) for Malian voters to cast their ballots to elect a new President for this conflict-torn West African country. The counting of votes began as soon as the polls closed.

About 6.87 million voters have participated in the election at 25,000 polling stations at home and abroad. If none of the 27 candidates participating in the election wins a majority of votes in this round of voting, Mali will have to hold a second round of presidential elections on August 11.

Most polling stations in the capital Bamako recorded between 55 and 65 percent voter turnout. Previously, Malian officials had expected a turnout of around 40 percent. The higher-than-expected turnout shows that Malians are hopeful for a better future for the country under the new leader.

“I feel really good after voting, because I can see the return of peace. The moment of the return of peace is right in front of me,” said Ibrahima Bengaly, a voter in Bamako.

Presidential candidate, former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boucacar Keita, believes that after this election, no matter who becomes President, victory still belongs to the Malian people: “I hope that each of us will participate in this important day of democracy. After the election, the Malian people will be the winners. The proud Malian people will be the ones to regain their role in history. This victory will erase the nightmare of last year.”

About 6.87 million voters participated in voting at 25,000 polling stations at home and abroad (photo: Reuters)

Mali's presidential election went off without incident, despite one of the main Islamist groups in northern Mali, the Movement for Unitarianism and Jihad West Africa (MUJAO), saying on July 27 that it would "attack" polling stations. Authorities said more than 4,500 police, national guards and special security personnel were deployed to ensure security for the election.

The head of the EU observer team, Louis Michel, said the voting process had been relatively peaceful: “At this point, I am not too worried. The election went quite smoothly. We will have to look at the observers' reports at the polling stations before making a final conclusion.”

Preliminary results collected by journalists at polling stations show former Prime Minister Keita is temporarily leading. These unofficial results are based on calculations by journalists following the nationwide vote count, showing that Mr. Keita, 69, the candidate of the Rally for Mali (RMP) party, can create a surprise and win in the first round. Mr. Keita is considered one of the two candidates most likely to win this election, along with former Finance Minister Soumaila Cisse, 63.

According to analysts, this presidential election is expected to open a new chapter to bring peace and stability to Mali. The country's prolonged political crisis began in late March 2012, after Amadou Sanogo led a group of military officers to overthrow then-President Amadou Toumani Toure.

That mutiny paved the way for extremist Islamic militants linked to the international terrorist network Al-Qaeda and Tuareg forces to seize northern Mali provinces, causing constant instability in this West African country./.

According to VOV - DT