|
View the h-africa Discussion Logs by month
View the Prior Message in h-africa's April 1997 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] View the Next Message in h-africa's April 1997 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] Visit the h-africa home page.
<zksmith@email.unc.edu>
The West African nation of Mali is currently embarking on its
second set of multi-party elections. The first occurred in 1992 following
a mass movement for democratization that was successful in overthrowing
the military regime that had ruled the country for 23 years. One of
Africa's poorest nations, Mali has astounded observers by its ability to
maintain a democratic government over the past five years in spite of
considerable challenges. While moves to democracy stalled or were
reversed in other African countries like Niger, Zaire, Nigeria, the
Gambia, etc. Mali has remained committed to democratic forms of
government.
Last Sunday, April 13, the first round of legislative elections
took place but irregularities of a technical nature led virtually all of
the opposition parties to call for cancellation of these elections and
rescheduling of the presidential elections which are supposed to take
place on May 4. Meanwhile an international observer team has certified
that in spite of some technical problems, (voter registration cards and
lists that were incomplete or inaccurate, lack of official ballots at a
number of polling places, polling places that opened late or not at all)
the election was conducted freely and without fraud. Preliminary reports
indicate that the ruling party, ADEMA, has done as well or better than
expected in the first round of polling.
Wednesday, April 16, the opposition parties organized a march, in
the capital Bamako, to protest the election irregularities and to press
their demands for a repeat of the first round. The march was prohibited
by the government and street clashes ensued yesterday morning between
opposition supporters and the police. There were a dozen injuries from
tear gas and rubber bullets, including one opposition parties' candidate
for president who was treated and released from a Bamako hospital. The
opposition seems determined to continue pressing for its demands but in
light of the international observer team's judgment it is unlikely that
the ruling party will repeal the election results. The situation is sure
to evolve, and hopefully further conflict can be avoided.
If you would like updated information, feel free to contact me.
 Humanities & Social Sciences Online 
|