Soumaïla Cissé

The death from Covid-19 of opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé on 25 December has robbed Mali of the clear favourite for the presidential election due to take place by March 2022...

While Soumaïla Cissé was alive and expected to win the next election such was his political authority and personal prestige that there seemed little danger of Mali being diverted from a routine restoration of constitutional democracy...

None other than Mali's jihad supremo Iyad ag Ghali showed how welcome these payments were when he threw a grandiose dinner party in the middle of the desert for the 200 or so 'fighters' who had been released from Bamako's prisons in October in exchange for four European hostages and Mali's opposition politician Soumaïla Cissé...

Alongside the three long-detained French and Italian hostages stood Soumaïla Cissé the leader of the parliamentary opposition (AC Vol 61 No 17 The junta haggles on transition)...

The abducted opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé – thought to be held by a faction close to Koufa – has at last been allowed to write to his family via the International Committee of the Red Cross...

New Finance Minister Abdoulaye Daffé is close to the Chérif of Nioro Mohamed Ould Bouyé Haïdara the Sufi leader who backed the main opposition candidate Soumaïla Cissé in the 2018 election (AC Vol 59 No 16 Court in the act)...

Other reports suggest however Keïta may be in prison in Bamako perhaps waiting to be swapped for Mali's opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé who was abducted while campaigning for election on 25 March and is now presumed to be a captive of JNIM (AC Vol 61 No 7 Voters self-isolate)...

If this failed to deter voters news emerged of the disappearance of opposition leader and losing presidential candidate in 2018 Soumaïla Cissé (AC Vol 59 No 16 Court in the act)...

The opposition Union pour la République et la Démocratie alliance led by Soumaïla Cissé prefers to gripe about being cheated of election victory in 2018 rather than join Keïta's 'national dialogue' to agree a common stance towards resolution of the crisis (AC Vol 60 No 19 The talking cure)...

Few would bet on Soumaïla Cissé abandoning his partisan sulk and joining the dialogue effort even though – as a native of Timbuktu – he might be able to exercise valuable influence in promoting reconciliation among northern groups...

Their perceived neutrality as honest brokers helped to convince the Union pour la République et la Démocratie of opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé to take part in a three-day workshop to draft the terms of reference for the talks...

Jihadist violence hampered voting in the fiefdoms in Mopti and the north of his chief rival Soumaïla Cissé whom he faces in the run-off on 12 August...