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Mali holds crucial elections on Sunday with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita seeking re-election in a country devastated by jihadist violence and ethnic attacks.
The international community hopes that the vote will strengthen the 2015 agreement that Mali, a key state The troubled Sahel region sees it as the cornerstone of peace.
But the violence revived the elections, the last days of the campaign being marked by an attack on the convoy of a candidate and new murders of civilians
. which brings together the government, allied government groups and former Tuareg rebels, the state of emergency remains in effect and begins its fourth year in November.
Jihadist violence spread from northern Mali to the center and south. in neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, often exacerbating community conflicts.
– "More War" –
Twenty-four candidates are running for president, and more than eight million people have the right to vote.
Keita, elected in 2013, is accused by his opponents, including several former ministers, of poor governance and failure of security. Nearly 300 civilians died in ethnic clashes this year alone
On Wednesday, at least three Peul civilians were killed in central Mali during an attack on alleged traditional hunters, according to civil society and sources of security. regularly denounces the abuses committed by Bambara and Dogon farmers in the fight against jihadists, accusing the authorities of ignoring or even participating in them.
S addressing reporters Tuesday, Keita, 73, defended his case and called the attacks "pockets". Keita said, "There is no more war in Mali today"
He acknowledged that the violence had "metastasized in central Mali" but said that the state "
– Rivals –
Keita's challengers are headed by Soumaila Cissé, a former finance and economy minister, who lost by far his place in the second round of elections in 2013. [19] 659016] Others are Modibo Kone, an expert in rural development at the West African Development Bank, and Hamadoun Touré, who leads the "Smart Africa" initiative to boost development on the continent through the technology.
Another candidate, businessman Aliou Boubacar Diallo, told IBK had "miserably failed." Diallo's convoy was attacked by armed badailants while he was campaigning
"Wherever we have been, it is this insecurity that dominates the concerns of Malians." [19659016] Among the other candidates are the astrophysicist and former Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra. Djeneba Ndiaye, a 55-year-old businesswoman
– Complaints for fraud –
Wishing that the vote may not be held in some parts of the country, more than 30,000 security guards [19659019Inthenorthwherethestateislargelyabsentarmedgroupssignatorytothepeaceagreementhavealsobeentiedup
The campaign took place in a context of tight security and marked by controversy over peace. The Cissé team claimed that there were two electoral lists and hundreds of fake polling stations listed
The European Union is expected to deploy a hundred observers Sunday. Its chief observer, Italian MEP Cecile Kyenge, on Wednesday called for "more transparency" and access for all observers, including 3,000 Malians
The participation rate is traditionally low at Mali in the first round.
If Keita – widely known as IBK – or one of his contenders fails to get more than half of the ballots, a second round will take place on August 12.
The first results are expected within 48 hours the vote, with official results no later than August 3
On the stump: President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita campaigned to Malians in Gabon, home of the many diaspora of the country
Candidate for the presidential election Soumaila Cisse the city of Gao for an electoral rally
Mali is in the heart of the Sahel, a vast region that straddles the southern border of the Sahara
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