Waging Peace:  Mali

Helping To Establish a New Democracy

The Carter Center started its work supporting Malian democracy in 1998, when President Alpha Oumar Konaré and the Collectif des Partis Politiques de l'Opposition (COPPO) invited Center representatives to Mali, shortly after Konaré's re-election. COPPO is an alliance of political parties competing with the dominant Alliance pour la democratie au Mali, known as Adema, which counts Konaré as one of its prominent members.

On this initial excursion, The Carter Center intended to facilitate discourse in talks regarding COPPO's involvement in future elections. At the time, COPPO would not recognize the Adema government's legitimacy, claiming, despite international elections observer reports to the contrary, that the May and July 1997 elections were fraudulent. The issue remained unresolved at the conclusion of the Center team's visit, as the disputing parties could not establish terms for joint meetings. Nevertheless, even with uncertainties about electoral integrity fueling conflict for Mali's government, the Center's separate meetings with the alliances indicated that headway could be made on several issues. All parties wanted to address concerns over the accuracy and reliability of elections, proposing measures to cultivate an environment more suited for democracy.

2002 Elections
In the 2002 elections, The Carter Center continued efforts to assist and promote the country's democratic process by sending a small delegation of staff and observers to Mali. Overall, the delegation was impressed with the peaceful conduct of the elections, the high degree of competition with 24 presidential candidates, and the diversity of views expressed through civil society and the media.
Mali's election law requires that the winning candidate secure a majority of votes. If no candidate secures a majority, a second round of polling must be held between the top two candidates. Although there were marked improvements from the first to second round of voting, the Center's delegation noted widespread irregularities during both rounds.

These irregularities, such as voter card theft, voter identification, and a cumbersome and inaccurate tabulation process, also were noted by the Constitutional Court tasked with the announcement of official results.

In the end, Mali's elected president, Amadou Toumani Touré (popularly known as ATT), enjoyed legitimacy with both his constituents and the international community and was re-elected in 2007.