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Mali suffocates. Doubts about the reliability of the vote, extreme security tensions: while this Sunday must be held the first round of his presidential election, the country is in the grip of instability. The army has been deployed to avoid overflowing. For several days, the government has been financing television commercials to call the population calmly.
73-year-old Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, elected in 2013 and head of the "Rally for Mali", is giving his mandate in And even if for many, the ballot should a priori allow IBK, also called the Old Man, to remain at the helm of the country, despite a disputed record. "It is quite negative, the Malians are disappointed, says Marie Rodet, a specialist in Mali and a teacher at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. Insecurity has increased in the country, the economic situation is not satisfactory. Malians feel that this mandate was useless. "
The security issue is at the heart of the tensions. In addition to the suspicions of fraud on the part of the presidential camp that could cause major clashes, the jihadist threat in the north of the country – which was taken to radical Islamists by France in 2013 – is growing and community tensions have increased.
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Security is now also a problem in the center of the country. And IBK is very criticized for not being offensive enough on the subject. "The international community and France are exasperated by its inaction," says Marie Rodet. It is indeed one of the main axes of campaign of the main leader of the opposition, Soumaïla Cissé, who promised to bring "peace" in the center of the country.
"Barkhane will not be eternal" [19659007] Mali lives on a drip of foreign military aid to maintain fragile stability. The French operation Barkhane is more than 4,500 soldiers tricolor distributed in the Sahel to fight against the jihadist threat, mainly in Mali. If IBK prevails, the international community fears that it will do more than under its first mandate. A message tinged with impatience in June by Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, prime contractor for the French intervention in 2013 when he led the defense.
A status quo would condemn France and its partners to extend their presence indefinitely. "Barkhane will be there as long as it takes but will not be eternal," says one to the Ministry of Armies, which by forming local armies, ultimately wants to "create the conditions" of his departure. The creation of the G5 Sahel in 2014, a coordinating framework for five countries in the region to fight against terrorism, must also enable African countries to take charge of the situation.
Malians will in any case expect much from the president-elect ( or reelected) on security. More than eight million people are called to the polls. The official results will be known by Friday at the latest, before a possible second round on August 12.
24 CANDIDATES!
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<p><i> Soumaïla Cissé. / REUTERS / Luc Gnago </i></p>
<p> The time of revenge for Soumaïla Cissé? Widely beaten (near 78% of the vote) by Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in 2013, the 68-year-old opposition leader hopes that the climate of insecurity will prompt Malians to get rid of a socialist president deemed too passive. not the supporters of the outgoing to believe in a victory in the first round, without waiting for a possible second round on August 12. Difficult, to the extent that IBK, 73, receives no bonus outgoing, and that 24 candidates – of which only one woman will win the vote, among them many former ministers of the Head of State, which speaks volumes about the ferocity of the campaign. </p>
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