BAMAKO (AA) – Only 20 percent of Mali's eligible voters cast ballots in the first round of legislative elections on Sunday, poll observers said.
Louis Michel, head of the EU observer mission, urged the country's political forces to mobilize supporters to participate in a second round of voting on December 15.
Speaking to local media, Michel said he was pleased to see the first round held in a stable atmosphere, noting that the legislative electoral process appeared smoother than presidential polls held earlier this year.
Preliminary poll results showed that only 21 candidates had managed to win seats, including two affiliated with Tuareg rebel movements in the country's northeast.
Former presidential aspirant Soumaïla Cissé also managed to secure a victory with 80 percent of the votes in the Niafunké constituency.
In the second round of voting next month, 126 out of parliament's 147 seats will be up for grabs.
Around 6.5 million Malians are eligible to vote in the election, which candidates from the ruling Rally for Mali and the Alliance for Democracy in Mali appear to be leading.
The polls are the second since democratically-elected president Amadou Toumani Toure was overthrown by the military last year.
In August, former prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was declared the winner of Mali's presidential race after clinching 77.6 percent of the vote.
By Sidi Ould Abdel-Malek
