Mali's President Toure re-elected - official tally
03 May 2007 19:42:22 GMT Source: Reuters
(Adds minister resigning, paragraph 6) By Tiemoko Diallo BAMAKO, May 3 (Reuters) - Mali's President Amadou Toumani Toure has been re-elected with an absolute majority of votes cast in Sunday's election, according to official results released on Thursday. Provisional results announced by the territorial administration ministry, which organised the polls and collated the returns, showed Toure won 68.3 percent of valid votes, while his main challenger Ibrahim Boubacar Keita took 18.6 percent. Turnout, typically low in Malian polls, was 36 percent. Supporters of Keita, president of the national assembly and a former prime minister, repeated their intention to challenge the outcome. "We do not recognise these results because it is a farce of an election. We are asking, purely and simply, that the election be annulled," said Djiguiba Keita, a spokesman for the FDR coalition backing Keita and three other opposition candidates. Environment Minister Nancouma Keita, a member of Keita's Rally for Mali (RPM) who had remained in a coalition government even though his party leader was standing against President Toure, resigned in protest at the result. The opposition first cried foul before voting began, saying electoral lists were out of date, ballot papers were circulated before the polls and the military were told to back Toure. Foreign observers and diplomats say there were a few technical glitches during the polls in the former French colony, one of the world's poorest countries, but that overall the vote was free, fair and credible. Credited with rescuing West Africa's second largest country from military dictatorship, Toure first seized power in a 1991 coup and won international acclaim for handing over to an elected president the following year. The softly-spoken former parachute commando -- dubbed "The Soldier of Malian Democracy" -- made a comeback as a civilian with his election in 2002. Since then he has worked to improve relations with foreign donors and investors, while focusing much of his attention at home on mechanising agriculture and building roads to get produce to market. The election results must be submitted by Friday to the Constitutional Court for approval.
