Bamako: Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won Mali's presidency after his opponent conceded defeat before official results were announced from the election aimed at restoring stability to a country wracked by a rebellion, a coup and an Islamic insurgency.
Soumalia Cisse's concession allows Mali to avoid a protracted election fight and to move ahead with establishing a democratically elected government, one of the international community's caveats for unlocking some $4 billion in promised aid.
Mr. Keita had been expected to win easily, having pulled nearly 40 per cent of the vote in the first round. Most of the other candidates from the first round also had given their endorsements to Mr. Keita, who is a former prime minister.
However, earlier in the day some of Mr. Cisse's supporters had raised allegations of ballot stuffing against Mr. Keita's party, raising the spectre of a legal battle.
Not long after Mr. Cisse's concession became known, the former finance minister tweeted about his decision to concede.
“My family and I went to the house of Mr.. Keita, future president of Mali, to congratulation him for his victory,” Mr. Cisse wrote. “May God bless Mali.”
