Soumaïla Cissé: restoring "pride" to Malians

The Malians had "the pride of their skin, they are now very small": the opposition leader, Soumaïla Cissé, one of Sunday's presidential favorites, wants to give hope to a country that "is dying".

"For my campaign, I did a dozen countries and I see what the perception of Mali today," told AFP Mr. Cisse Cisse, who chaired from 2004 to 2011 the Commission of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA, 8 Member States).

"Mali was known as a country of people who have a pride in their skin, but who feel very small, feel humiliated, and I think it gives apathy," adds a voice asked the 68-year-old candidate during a campaign visit to Mopti

Without ever mentioning the name of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, who had beaten him in the second round in 2013 and is seeking a second term, he

For the former minister, who notably held the finance portfolio, Mali "is dying". In the center, "there is no administration, there are more than 500 closed schools, more health centers, more water investments", he lists.

As for inter-communal violence, which have left more than 300 dead since the beginning of the year, mainly in the center of the country, according to the UN, they are "primarily due to poverty, which has increased in recent years" . "This creates tensions, difficulties, competitions over resources," he says.

But Soumaïla Cissé also denounces a "real lack of authority of the state." "Some citizens end up doing justice to themselves and that's very dangerous."

To stop the cycle of atrocities and reprisals he pleads for "a real dialogue", both within communities and between them. "Above all, do not make it an administrative matter, where we have the prefect, the governor, the mayor … People have to talk to each other every day" to achieve true peace, he says.

– Cascade corruption –

As for the persistence of jihadist groups, despite the presence of international forces, he considers that this is an "African, European, world problem."

On the agreement signed in 2015, the application of which accumulates delays, the leader of the opposition criticizes the head of state for having long disdained dialogue with leaders of armed groups he did not consider "at his height "

He believes that" we must leave with a new government that has the sincere desire to implement the document ". According to him, "the agreement will not apply by itself, we need men and women behind."

Citing education and health as the engine of the fight against poverty, Soumaïla Cissé proposes to reduce the "lifestyle of the state".

Between "the number of vehicles, the waste of fuel, travel", there are many sources of savings, he says.

"Especially, we can fight effectively against corruption", insists -t it. "There is high-level corruption, but there is corruption to the level of detail, even to see a doctor, a nurse, a teacher."

Hence the importance of setting an example at the top of the state, underlines the candidate: "If he who is before is virtuous, those who are behind become virtuous.But if he is vicious, they become more vicious than him."

Explaining having discovered a " wide fraud on the electoral register ", what the authorities deny, Soumaïla Cissé says" worried for a democracy already stammering ".

" What we can say is that we have a government that cheats, a cheating president He does not deserve to be reelected, "he accuses.