Keita wins Mali presidential election after rival concedes defeat

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Keita wins Mali presidential election after rival concedes defeat

(Xinhua) 13:09, August 13, 2013

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BAMAKO, Aug. 12 -- Former Malian Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubarca Keita won the country's presidential election as his rival Soumaila Cisse on Monday conceded defeat and congratulated Keita on his victory.

Although official results of the run-off are not announced, Keita, widely known as IBK, met with Cisse late Monday at the former prime minister's residence. Cisse said he was ready to assist Keita in his mission as the new president, a source who was present at the meeting told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, national and international observers gave a positive evaluation in general, regardless of some minor technical faults.

The Pole of Civil Electoral Observation (POCE), formed by some 60 Malian associations, said that the votes were held in good conditions in the whole country.

It reported some irregularities such as "delay in launching of operations at certain stations," "difficulties in identifying their stations for certain voters" and "cases of attempts of influence-buying."

But, the vote was held "in conformity with generally accepted international laws and regulations. The irregularities that have been noted do not harm its sincerity, transparency and credibility," said the POCE in its statement.

The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Mali also reported no major incidents although heavy rains hampered the smooth conduct of voting operations in many parts of the country, said the UN at a daily news briefing.

The European Union (EU), which deployed over 100 observers to monitor the run-off, hailed Sunday's second round as "a considerable democratic progress," saying that there is generally "absolutely nothing to doubt or raise suspicion about."

The African Union (AU) mission concluded that the second round vote is "in conformity with the norms of credibility and transparency" and hailed the civic behaviors of the Malian voters.

The only harsh evaluation came from the campaign team of Cisse which alleged earlier Monday that irregularities during the voting operations have "seriously corrupted the credibility" of the results.

A statement signed by Gouagnon Coulibaly, national coordinator of the campaign of Cisse, said that filled ballot boxes were found and during the vote, representatives, delegates and other electoral agents from the camp of Cisse were intimidated, questioned and even detained.

In reaction to allegations of fraud, Edem Kodjo, head of the AU observation mission in Mali and former prime minister of Togo, told Xinhua that the AU proposed to take the issue to the Constitutional Court, saying that they have "found nothing" and "have no proof in hand."

As no candidate secured a majority during the first round held on July 28, a runoff election was held on Sunday. The counting started immediately after the second round ended Sunday evening. Mali's Constitutional Court is set to announce the final results on Friday.

In the first round, the 68-year-old Keita garnered 39.79 percent of votes, ahead of Cisse, former finance minister and Keita's longtime rival who got 19.7 percent.

Keita and Cisse lost the 2002 presidential election to Amadou Toumani Toure, who was overthrown by a military coup in March 2012.