On Sunday Malians will be heading back to the poll to choose between incumbent President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and his main rival, Soumaila Cisse.
Both men are the only contenders in Sunday’s run-off and Cisse needs support badly to pose a threat to Keita.
But on Thursday, the third and fourth-place finishers in the first round of the presidential election declined to endorse Cisse.
This is seen as a major blow to his hopes of defeating Keita who he lost to in a run-off in 2013.
Both candidates failed to obtain more than 50 percent of votes therefore requiring a second round of voting.
Third-place finisher Aliou Diallo has told his supporters in Bamako that “to Malians that I leave the responsibility of expressing themselves as they wish in the second round”.
Diallo received 8 percent of the vote in the first round.
Fourth-placed Cheick Modibo Diarra who received 7 percent of the first round votes also has also spoken.
“Neither IBK (Keita) nor Soumi (Cisse) corresponds with our political ideal. I will not support one or the other. Each person who voted for me is free to vote for whom they wish,” Diarra said.
In 2013 president Keita, beat Soumaila Cisse in a second round of voting. He won then by 77% although the opposition disputed the outcome.
Mali has experienced a lot of jihadist violence and ethnic attacks over the years with little progress in stopping them.
Source: Africafeeds.com
