MOSCOW, August 11 (RIA Novosti) - Mali nationals will vote Sunday in a presidential election runoff.
Ex-Premier Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who won nearly 40 percent of the vote in the first round, is widely expected to defeat his rival, ex-Finance Minister Soumaila Cisse, who gained some 20 percent, media reported Sunday.
The election will be held after more than a year of turmoil that included a coup and a military intervention led by France to oust Islamist rebels from the country’s north, the BBC reported.
The runoff winner is set to oversee over $4 billion of foreign assistance promised to rebuild the West African state.
According to the British broadcaster, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Mali (Minusma), which is 12,600 strong, is deploying. France is currently starting to withdraw its 3,000 troops.
The vote would be an important milestone on the way of restoring the constitutional order and beginning national dialogue and reconciliation, the United Nations has said.
