Strong mobilization at the campaign meetings of the outgoing president and his main rival in Mali

Twenty-four candidates are running for this presidential election whose campaign was launched on Saturday. The international community, including with the UN Mission in Mali (Minusma) and the French force Barkhane, expects a relaunch of the implementation of the peace agreement signed in May-June 2015, which accumulates delays, in a country where jihadist attacks have multiplied in recent months

President Keïta, elected in 2013, was applauded Sunday by his supporters gathered in a stadium in Bamako, with a capacity of 60,000 seats and arch-fills , an AFP journalist found.

Buses and minibuses carrying militants were parked all around the stadium with banners and posters bearing the image of 73-year-old President Keïta.

"I am running for my succession, not out of love for power but out of love for this country, for its security and stability, "President Keïta said in Bambara language, in white boubou and cap. He asked his supporters to "stay mobilized for victory".

>> Read also: Beginning of the campaign for the presidential election of July 29 in Mali

His main rival, former minister Soumaïla Cissé, for his part held a meeting on Independence Square in Bamako (city center), where tens of thousands of people were gathered according to the press. His entourage speaks of 30,000 to 50,000 people present.

"I pledge to do everything possible to bring back peace and unity, to give back to the State all its authority", said Mr. Cissé, 68 years, a renowned economist and one of the veterans of politics in Mali.

"I pledge to fight against clientelism and corruption.I make the solemn oath that no family member will have of official posts, "said Cisse, in white boubou and amid large inflatable balloons with his effigy and banners indicating:" Soumaïla Cissé, the hope of Mali ".

" The country is bad. The center of Mali burns down, we have lost the north and only Soumaïla Cissé can save us, "said 36-year-old Souleymane Kanté, unemployed graduate

Northern Mali had fallen in March -April 2012 under the guise of jihadist groups linked to Al Qaeda, largely driven or dispersed by a millet intervention launched in January 2013 at the initiative of France, which is currently continuing.

Since the signing of the 2015 agreement, the violence has not only persisted, but has spread from the north to the center and the south from the country, then to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, often mingling with inter-community tensions or conflicts.

With AFP