Brussels, 31/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - For the European Union, there are no doubts. The presidential election of 28 July in Mali, in which former prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (known as IBK) held a clear lead on Wednesday 31 July before the counting of the votes had been completed, were credible and transparent. The final results are expected to be announced on 2 August, but all signs were that the candidate in the lead could be elected in the first round.
The day before, MEP Louis Michel (ALDE, Belgium), head of the election observation mission of the EU (EOM EU) in Mali, said: “the citizens of Mali have clearly decided to use these elections to take back ownership of their democratic destiny. They did so peacefully, calmly and with discipline. The entire election process was based on transparency. The first round of the presidential elections took place in a peaceful climate. We were able to see a considerable mobilisation of the Malian population, above 50% in certain areas. There were no incidents which could be described as major. There were a few small imperfections, often of a logistical nature, but nothing to call the legitimacy of the results into question” (our translation). He was speaking at a press conference held in Bamako on 30 July, which was attended by the head of the delegation of the European Parliament, Michèle Striffler (EPP, France), and Maria Esinoso, deputy chief observer, to present the preliminary declaration of the Mission. The EOM EU observers assessed electoral operations as positive (using the adjectives “good” and “excellent”) at 92% of the 688 polling stations they observed.
Describing the elections as historic, the members of the delegation of the European Parliament congratulated the transition government on the work carried out. Amongst other things, they stressed the fact that the “enormous turnout of the people of Mali is exceptional in a country with a turnout rate which is traditionally very low”, that “the dramatic circumstances the country is in the process of getting over did not prevent a highly advanced electoral process from being set in place” and that “biometric identification cards were distributed to almost all voters”. It is undeniable that logistical problems occurred and these must not be underestimated, but, they added, neither should the organisational issues in refugee camps and overseas be overestimated.
On the evening of 29 July, Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, welcomed the “desire of the people of Mali to turn the page, to restore constitutional order and to take back their own destiny” and pledged that the “EU will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with all Malians and will support the new elected government in its efforts to promote lasting peace, national reconciliation and new development throughout the country of Mali”. (AN/transl.fl)