The two main presidential candidates in Mali mobilize the crowds

More than 60,000 people attended, Sunday, July 8, in Bamako at the first campaign rally of the head of the Malian state Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (IBK), while his main rival in the presidential election of July 29, Soumaïla Cissé, mobilized also a crowd of many supporters. Twenty-four candidates run for this election, which was launched on Saturday.

President Keïta, 73, elected in 2013, was applauded Sunday by supporters gathered at a stadium in Bamako. "I present myself for my succession, not out of love for power but out of love for this country, for its security and stability" affirmed IBK in Bambara language, wearing a boubou and a hat white. He asked his followers of "to remain mobilized for victory" .

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

"The country goes wrong"

"I pledge to do everything possible to bring back peace and unity, to give back to 'State all its authority' said the candidate of the Union for Republic and Democracy, 68 years old, a renowned economist and one of the veterans of politics in Mali. "I pledge to fight clientelism and corruption. I make the solemn oath that no member of the family will have official positions " Soumaïla Cissé, also dressed in a white boubou amidst large inflatable balloons with his effigy.

« The country not going well. Life is expensive. The center of Mali burns. We have totally lost the North. It is only Soumaïla Cissé who can save us " commented Souleymane Kanté, 36, unemployed graduate.

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The international community, including with the UN Mission in Mali (Minusma) and the French force "Barkhane", expects from these elections a revival 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.

Northern Mali had fallen in March-April 2012 under the guise of groups linked to Al-Qaida, largely hunted or dispersed by a military 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 south of the country, then to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, often mingling with tension or conflict. intercommunity.