Opposition candidate rejects result of presidential poll in Mali




Soumaila Cisse, leader of URD, talks with others leaders as they attend a joint news conference of opposition candidates in Mali's presidential election, in Bamako
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Bamako – Mali’s leading opposition candidate Soumaila Cisse said Friday that he rejected the results of the first round of the country’s presidential election, which set up a run-off vote between him and incumbent Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

“I say it loud and strong. These results do not reflect the will of Malians,” Cisse told journalists in the capital, Bamako.

“These are the results of fraud, a shameful stuffing of the ballot box in favour of [Keita]. They are the fruits of gross irregularities and deliberate violations of the electoral law,” Cisse added.

Cisse said he intended to lodge a complaint with the Constitutional Court.

Neither Keita nor Cisse could muster a majority of votes in the first round of a tense but peaceful presidential poll on July 29.

Keita took 41.4% of the vote, followed by Cisse with 17.8%, according to the electoral commission.

The run-off vote has been set for August 12.