Mali: Democratic rule

Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, has been confronting multi-faceted problems since the coup in March last year. Failure of then government of President Amadou Toumani Toure to deal with the Tuareg uprising and violent attacks by Islamist extremist groups, including one by Al Qaeda, led to the fall of Mali's three northernmost provinces - Gao, Kidal, and Timbuktu. So, it was with relief that Mali welcomed France's intervention in January this year, which gave hope of arresting the country's fast unraveling condition.

However, later, the responsibility to administer Mali changed hands from France to the United Nations as part of a transition process to return the country to democratic rule. After a period of chaos the nation has been able to peacefully conduct the presidential election on July 28. However, Mali's readiness to go for nation-wide polls is under the scanner as Moussa Djire, a political science professor at the University of Bamako, has voiced concern that conducting an election in the current situation is “a monumental mistake and a political error.”

But holding the election remains the top-most concern for Mali. The Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Islamist groups such as Ansar al-Dine, though still active, seem to be losing their influence. Such prospects offer a good ground for calling the vote. To prepare itself for the challenge, Mali has introduced biometric ID cards to check electoral fraud, even though the nation-wide distribution of cards is "way behind schedule" and the completion of the exercise looks implausible this year. So what forced Mali to hold the presidential election so urgently? Some experts believe that “the faster the new government will be installed, the sooner it can deal with the crisis.” On the other hand, at stake was the multi-billion dollar aid that was put on hold after the coup. International donors, especially the UN and France, have been pressing Mali for holding the election as a precursor to the disbursement of $4 billion in aid.

The country can take up the challenge now that it has successfully conducted the presidential election, which saw encouraging voter turnout at 53.3 percent. This is much better than the historical average and well above Mali's record high of 40 percent turnout in 1992. However, as Djire has warned, holding the election is not without its perils. Chances are that discredited politicians would once again return to power and start abusing their positions. According to Djire, “The new government will also face criticism for a long time after being elected because it will be accused of giving in to pressure from the international community.” But inspite of the challenges involved, Mali needs to call in the election early if it wants to stand with pride on the global platform and see its economy bounce back to health.