Præsidentvalget forrige søndag i det fattige Sahel-land i Vestafrika, som kommer efter et militærkup, en islamistisk invasion og fransk militær-indgriben, kører videre med valgrunde to, da ingen af de 25 kandidater fik halvdelen af stemmerne.
Former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and ex-Finance Minister Soumaila Cisse will contest a second round on Sunday 11 August, BBC online reports Friday.
The election is intended to restore democracy after 22 months of unrest. France hailed the election as a success and the European Union said it had gone well and was marked by enthusiasm among voters.
France sent more than 4.000 troops in January to regain control of northern towns and cities from al-Qaeda-linked militants.
Mr Keita (69) secured 39,2 per cent of the vote cast ahead of main rival Mr Cisse (63) who took 19,4 per cent.
Mr Keita, known popularly as “IBK”, has a reputation of being a strongman.
He ran his campaign under the banner of ”For Mali’s honour”, playing on the fact that Malians felt humiliated by having to call for France’s help to prevent their country from breaking up.
Prominent religious leaders in the mostly Muslim nation called on people to vote for him; he is also considered the favourite of the military, including last year’s coup leaders, BBC notes.
Mr Cisse, who founded the Union for the Republic and Democracy (URD) party in 2003, called for the junta that seized power in 2012 to be cleared from the political scene.
A UN peacekeeping force was deployed to Mali in July ahead of the elections, as France began to withdraw its troops from its former colony and the army pledged support for the restoration of democratic rule.
