Mali : Parliamentary Elections Hitch-Free

Voters in Mali yesterday, April 19, 2020 went to the poll for the second round of legislative elections. Most media reports from the field say, the exercise went on hitch-free with the final results expected to be made public in the days ahead by the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI).  During the first round of the legislative elections held on 29 March, 22 out of the 147 parliamentary seats were grabbed, while local observers in the capital Bamako put voter turnout at 7.5%. The second round of the legislative elections took place amidst the global coronavirus pandemic and the prevailing security crisis in the north and center of the country. 
Among the 22 parliamentarians already elected is kidnapped opposition leader (by a jihadist group on March 25), Soumaïla Cissé, who competed in the Niafunké constituency. Eight out of 12 constituencies in which deputies have already been elected are in the north of the country. 
In Kidal, the RPM lists, the presidential party, prevailed. In the three constituencies of Tessalit, Tin-Essako and Abeibara, the candidates' registered more than 87%. In Bamako, in particular, the RPM and its allies came first in 4 out of 6 communes. 
Under Malian law, there is no minimum voter turnout for election results to be valid. During the March 29, 2020, The National Independent Electoral Commission (known by its French acronym CENI) admitted that although the figure for the capital was very low; nationally, the overall picture was better at 36%, it said. 
Despite the jihadist attacks on certain polling stations in the first round or the Covid-19 pandemic, "there was consensus d...