By David Lewis and Tiemoko Diallo
BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali tallied votes from its high-stakes election on Monday cheering a robust turnout and lack of violence as proof Malians were eager to turn the page on more than a year of turmoil, war and an army coup.
Official results were not due until Tuesday, but that did not stop ex-prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's camp from saying a first round victory was within reach.
Mahamadou Camara, a spokesman for Keita, universally known by his initials, IBK, said their tallies showed him scoring well above the 50 percent needed to avoid a run-off, which will take place August 11 if required.
Keita's rivals, who include ex-finance minister Soumaila Cisse, Modibo Sidibe, a former prime minister, and Dramane Dembele, the candidate of Mali's biggest party, said they were sure a second round would be needed.
The three, all members of the FDR coalition set up against the junta last year, met to issue a joint statement on Monday.
"There cannot be a victory in the first round," Amadou Koita, the coalition's spokesman, said in the statement.
Local newspapers lauded the vote on Monday morning, with state-run L'Essor saying the turnout was "exceptional".
"There were women, old people, blind people. Everyone wanted to vote," said Mariam Diallo-Drame, a youth leader who had encouraged people to take part in the election.
"This is the first time ever we had a truly democratic election. We have never seen that in Mali...We understood what happens if we don't fulfill our obligations. People are saying it is now up to the politicians to understand," she said.
Gamer Dicko, a spokesman at the Interior Ministry, which organized the vote, said it would take time to transport the results sheets across the country, which is twice the size of France, and collate them.
The vote was the first since a coup in March last year led to the occupation of Mali's north by separatist and Islamist rebels. French forces intervened in January to defeat the al Qaeda-linked fighters, whose threats to disrupt the election did not materialize.
However, the candidates - 26 men and one woman - are known quantities and few expect the kind of radical overhaul of Mali's political class that many say is necessary.
Groups of Keita's supporters had spilled onto the streets of the riverside capital overnight after local media announced results showing him scoring heavy victories in individual polling stations there.
They whistled and chanted "IBK, IBK" and "Takokele" - which means just one round in the local Bamabara language - reflecting confidence in Keita's camp of an outright win.
Rivals called their actions a provocation.
Cisse, seen as Keita's strongest challenger, said he would contest the results if there was no run-off.
"Across Bamako, there was organized fraud. Fraud is fraud, there is no such thing as small fraud," he told Reuters.
NOT WITHOUT PROBLEMS
Chief EU observer Louis Michel said on Monday the election took place in a calm atmosphere and participation exceeded 50 percent in some places.
Turnout at some polling stations visited by Reuters on Sunday was more than 50 percent, while participation in previous presidential elections has never exceeded 40 percent.
"No major incidents were reported even though there were some imperfections," Michel told journalists in Bamako.
"But none of these incidents, none of these imperfections could jeopardize the legitimacy of the results," he said.
In a few examples of reported problems, some Malians had difficulty finding the right polling station, and thousands who were displaced by the conflict are likely to have missed the vote as they would not have received the newly-printed ID cards.
Voting in Kidal, the heart of the Tuareg rebellion in Mali's desert north that sparked the crisis last year, was muted, observers and residents said. The future president must still secure a long-term peace with separatist rebels.
Observers said there were some protests against the vote in Kidal and a U.N. source said Tuareg MNLA rebels had sought to prevent some people from voting in Menaka, another northern town.
Results were meant to be posted outside all polling stations after local counting was completed, but they were missing from most locations visited in Bamako by Reuters on Monday morning.
The relatively high turnout and the lack of violence support those in Mali and world powers, especially France, who pushed for the vote to be held despite rushed preparations and fears of marginalizing thousands of voters.
A successful vote will also pave the way for donors to disburse some 3 billion euros in reconstruction aid promised in May.
(Additional reporting by Adama Diarra; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mali-counts-votes-cheered-high-turnout-presidential-race-192651267.html
peter frampton Sandy Hook Elementary School Colors Victoria Soto nbc sports morgan freeman Survivor Philippines Fashion Island shooting
