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Malians vote Sunday for a presidential election supposed to revive the 2015 peace agreement, as instability in the country has spread to several neighboring states in the Sahel, despite five years of international military intervention against the jihadists. 19659002] The approximately 23,000 polling stations are open from 08:00 to 18:00 (local and GMT), the first results are expected within 48 hours, provisional official results by 3 August at the latest, before a possible second round on 12 August.
More than eight million inhabitants of this vast landlocked country of West Africa, counting about twenty ethnic groups, must decide to renew the president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, 73 years old, or elect one of his 23 competitors , including the leader of the opposition, Soumaïla Cissé, and one woman, Djeneba N'Diaye.
The international community, presented militarily with the French force Barkhane, who took over from the Operation Serval launched in 2013 against the jihadists, and with UN peacekeepers, expects from the victor a revival of the peace agreement signed in 2015 by the government camp and the ex-Tuareg-dominated rebellion, of which the application builds up delays.
Despite this agreement, jihadist violence not only persisted, but spread from the north to the center and south of the country, then to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, often mingling with conflict.
If the 2013 election helped "restore constitutional order," in 2018 Malians must prove that "the democratic process is irreversible," said the head of the UN mission in Mali (Minusma), Mahamat Saleh Annadif, emphasizing that the country's situation remains "fragile."
The incumbent president voted shortly after 9:00 GMT in Bamako, while the opposition leader had to fulfill his civic duty in Niafoun ké, in the region of Timbuktu (north-west)
In the unsaved premises of the school where Mr. Keïta voted, voting began shortly after 8:00 am
"I have my card I am going to vote for my country and for the one I like as president because I am a citizen like the others ", told AFP Moriba Camara, a teacher of 35 years, while the voters were still only a handful. "I know there will be no cheating, I trust the authorities, they put everything in place," he added.
– Jihadist Threat –
The Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who visited Mali two months ago, called on the protagonists to allow "a peaceful, free and transparent process" and "to resort to the institutions set up for this purpose in case of disputes".
The opposition, which denounced a risk of fraud, ended up agree Saturday with the government to participate in the vote, despite its reservations on the electoral register.
On Friday, the jihadists invited themselves in the end of the campaign, with a video of the leader of the main jihadist alliance of the Sahel, linked to al-Qaeda, the Malian Touareg Iyad Ag Ghaly, leader of one of the Islamist groups that seized all of northern Mali in 2012.
"These elections are nothing but the pursuit of a mirage and our people will only harvest illusions," said the head of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims ". Citing the alleged abuses of the Malian army against civilians in the center of the country, he assured that "these crimes will not go unpunished."
To allow the holding of the vote on the greater part of the territory, more than 30,000 members of the security forces, national and foreign, are mobilized, according to the Ministry of Internal Security.
In the North, where the State is little or not present, the armed groups signatories of the will also participate in securing the vote.
The participation rate is traditionally low, significantly lower than 50%, in the first round of the presidential election in this country known for its cultural influence, but where less than one One-third of over-15s are literate
"If the new president can really give young people more opportunities and really fight corruption, I think a lot of things will go into this. ys ", hopes Ahmed Tidiane Ségéga, an air traffic controller
The governor of Mopti (center), General Sidi Alassane Touré, said he was" very optimistic "about the participation in this region, considering the rate of withdrawal voter cards that it displays, slightly higher than the national average of 74.5%.
But in Bamako, Mounkoro Moussa, a merchant from Djenné (center), historical crossroads of trans-Saharan trade, stresses that to return to one's region of origin "it is not easy, we have fear in our hearts. All I want from the next President is that he first settles the problem of security. "
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