Transparency at the core of presidential elections

Mali has mandated two new bodies to ensure transparency in presidential elections due later this month, and allocated equal time on state radio and space in the government newspaper for each candidate, officials in the capital, Bamako, said on Wednesday. Some 24 candidates are vying for the presidency. The National Electoral Independent Commission (French acronym CENI) and the General Delegation for the Elections (DGE), will supervise the 28 April polls, in addition to the Ministry of Territorial Administration. The three have distinct but complementary roles, officials told IRIN. The candidates have been allocated 10 minutes per week on state radio; a six-minute spot on state television, and an additional 10 minutes to field questions from a journalist on the state television. Candidates are also entitled to a quarter of a page free space in the state owned daily, l'Essor. The campaigns opened on Sunday and are due to end on 25 April. Over 5.4 registered Malians are expected to cast their ballot in one of the 12,004 polling stations throughout the country. "The authorities are trying to ensure that the voters collect their electoral cards," Ismael Yoro Dicko, of the Ministry of Territorial Administration, told IRIN. The new president, to be announced on 1 May unless there is a rerun within two weeks, is expected to focus on decentralisation, poverty reduction, peace and stability, and institutional reforms, Eric Overvest of the UN Development Programme in Bamako said. The president will also be expected to build on economic policies initiated by outgoing president Alpha Oumar Konare. It is important that these elections be fair and free because it would solidify Mali's budding democracy, Overvest said. Malians living abroad would be able to vote in their host country while the political parties have opted for a multiple ballot system. Each party is also expected to have an agent at each polling station in addition to over 4,000 national observers and international observers. The candidates include Amadou Toumani Toure, an ex- general who ruled the country from 1991 to 1992 after the fall of the government of Moussa Traore, Soumaila Cisse of the ruling ADEMA party, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, a former prime minister backed by 16 parties, immediate past prime minister Manda Sidibe, who is running as an independent and Mamadou Maribatrou who came second in the last polls. Others are former minister Ahmed El Madani Diallo, and Choguel Kokalla Maiga of the Patriotic Republican Movement. The only woman candidate, Awa Sidibe Sanogo, was disqualified for failing to pay the required fee of FCFA five million (about US $6,700). Opposition parties boycotted the last presidential elections in 1997, alleging fraud. Alpha Oumar Konare, who has ruled since 1992, won the election and has since received praise from donors and Western government for his pragmatic economic policies.