Mali votes for president

Kidal: Voters are heading to the polls in Mali’s first election since last year’s coup, despite massive technical glitches which resulted in tens of thousands of registered voters being dropped from the voter list.

Voters arrived early and long queues formed at many of the 21,000 polling stations across Mali, from the bustling, lush riverside capital in the south to the remote desert garrison town of Kidal.

However, the official 0800 GMT opening of polls was delayed in many voting centres as election workers awaited the last-minute delivery of voting materials.

In the contested region of Kidal only a trickle of voters made their way past checkpoints manned by UN peacekeepers. The majority that came couldn’t find their name on the lists posted outside their polling station. Kidal was the birthplace of last year’s uprising by Tawareq separatists, a rebellion which set in motion a sequence of events that led to the coup in the capital.

In the run-up to the vote, experts had warned that a rushed election might lead to challenges and further crises.

But election officials say they have distributed 85 per cent of the ID cards and a free and fair race in a field of 26 men and one women could take place.

A second round will take place on August 11 if no candidate wins over 50 per cent of the vote.

The ballot opened at 8am under heavy security after one of the main Islamist armed groups in northern Mali said on Saturday it would “strike” polling stations despite a successful French offensive against Al Qaida-linked fighters.

“The polling stations and other voting places for what they are calling the elections will be targeted by Mujahideen strikes,” the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujwa) said in a statement carried by neighbouring Mauritania’s ANI news agency. Mujwa was one of the groups that occupied Mali’s north last year.

It did not specify what form the attacks would take but the group warned Malian Muslims to “stay away from the polls”.

The presidential election is hoped to provide a fresh start to a country divided by a coup and a war in its desert north.

Candidates wound up campaigns promising reconstruction and reconciliation. Separatist and Islamist rebels swept across the desert north of the former French colony last year shortly after soldiers ousted the president.

Thousands of French troops halted a rebel advance in January and United Nations peacekeepers are deploying to stabilise the broken nation. A successful vote on Sunday would take the gold-producing country another step towards recovery.

Louis Michel, head of the European Union’s election observer mission, said he was “positively surprised” by preparations and that the conditions for the vote were acceptable.

“A month ago, there were a lot of doubts. But it has come together. Everyone realises that this interim government has to end as its inherent fragility and uncertainty has been so costly for Mali,” said US Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard.

“I love my country. I want change and security,” said Nina Traore, 28, the first person to vote at a polling centre the Aminata Diop school in the capital Bamako’s Lafiabougou neighbourhood.

“We need this election — it is critical,” said Abdrahamane Toure, a postal worker who came to the Lafiabougou voting centre a day early on Saturday to check where he would vote.

“Once we have a legitimate state back, things might start getting better,” he added.

In a sign of last-minute preparations, residents were still lining up to collect newly-printed ID cards that they will have to show in order to vote. Authorities also instructed some 6.8 million eligible voters how to find their polling stations by sending SMS messages to designated numbers.

Free and fair race

Most of the front-runners are established political figures over the last 20 years of Malian politics so there is little likelihood of a radical overhaul.

Two former prime ministers — Ebrahim Boubacar Keita and Modibo Sidibe — are expected to be among the top finishers.

Soumaila Cisse, a respected economist, former finance minister and native of the region of Timbuktu, is also among the leading candidates. Dramane Dembele, chosen as candidate of Mali’s largest party, ADEMA, could appeal to youth voters.

Before last year’s collapse, Mali, a poor nation straddling the south of the Sahara, had built up a reputation for stability and become Africa’s No 3 gold producer.

Donors who slashed aid after the coup have promised more than €3 billion (Dh14.6 billion) in reconstruction assistance after the election.

The new president will have to oversee peace talks with separatist Tawareq rebels who have agreed to allow the vote to take place in areas they operate in but have yet to lay down their arms.

France is hoping a successful vote will allow it to scale down its military presence in Mali from around 3,000 troops currently. A 12,600-strong UN mission is rolling out.