EU hails successful presidential election in Mali

The European Union said on Monday Mali's parliamentary elections had confounded fears over possible Islamist violence and were "another success" despite low-level protests in the north and a poor turnout. Louis Michel, head of the bloc's election observation mission, paid tribute to "the success of the organization of elections, particularly with regard to the logistical, material and human conditions that prevailed during voting operations". Sunday's polls marked Mali's latest steps to recovery after the west African nation was plunged into chaos by a military coup in March last year, and finalized a process begun with the election of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August. But voters were prevented from taking part by Tuareg separatist protesters in a northeastern town of around 14,000 people, while there were demonstrations in the northern rebel stronghold of Kidal and reports of ballot box thefts elsewhere. Michel said the election "took place peacefully, despite some small-scale incidents in the north which are not likely to jeopardize the integrity of the vote". Meanwhile the justice ministry said in statement that troublemakers would be "sought and punished throughout the national territory". Some 6.5 million Malians were eligible to cast ballots for a new 147-member national assembly but turnout is thought to have paled compared with the presidential election, in which 50 percent of the electorate voted. The Citizen's Electoral Observation Deck, a monitoring program put together by charities which deployed 3,700 observers, also said the vote went smoothly, but noted turnout could be "less than 30 percent". The ministry of territorial administration, one of the bodies responsible for organizing the elections, said "early trends" in voting might be known as early as Monday. A second round will take place on December 15 if no party is able to form a government. "A presidential election may be different in nature from a parliamentary election, but I would still appeal to political parties, candidates and citizens to use the second round to further strengthen democratic rebuilding," Michel said. "I urge all political actors to mobilize on December 15. Voting is not only a right, it is a moral duty, especially in the context of Mali." One hundred EU observers visited 789 out of 17,983 polling stations, reporting that voting went well in almost all of them. This was despite fears that al-Qaida-linked militants driven from the towns and cities of northern Mali by a French-led military operation launched in January would use the election to launch violent reprisals. The ECOWAS bloc of 15 west African nations also noted poor turnout, saying around a tenth of voters had cast their ballots by midday at two polling stations visited by observers in Bamako and that the rate had risen to just 16.5 percent by the close in another. Amos Sawyer, the head of ECOWAS's election observation mission, said however that Malians had displayed "orderly conduct" throughout the country. "The electoral process... has been orderly, security and the general atmosphere is fine and the preparation has been very good," he said.