Bamako, Mali — Soumaila Cisse is one of 24 candidates¨hoping to become the next president of Mali in the elections on Sunday. The 53 year-old computer science engineer-turned politician and minister is also the official presidential contender for the governing Alliance for Democracy in Mali (Adema) party.
He is one of the men hoping to succeed President Alpha Oumar Konare, the leader of Mali for the past ten years, who ends his second and final mandate in June.
Cisse is said to stand a good chance of gaining the top job, with the ample financial means to have organized a spectacular campaign - using a helicopter, which has captured the imagination of the people and the news headlines in Mali. His campaign slogans say 'A Better Future for All, 'The Dream of Soumaila Cisse', 'The Strength of Experience.
allAfrica.coms Ofeibea Quist-Arcton caught up with Soumaila Cisse, back in the capital, Bamako, just before his last rally on the final day of campaigning on Friday.
Tell me something about your background.
My training was in computer science. Im a computer science engineer. I have also done management training. I worked in France for a long time, in large companies such as IBM and Thompson and Pechinet and Air Inter. Then I came back to Mali and worked in the Compagnie Malienne de Developpement Textiles (CMDT), the main cotton company in Mali. Afterwards I moved to the presidency as the secretary-general. Then I became a government minister and, over the past ten years, I've been minister of finance and economy and most recently minister of works and infrastructure.
Your helicopter-borne presidential election campaign has raised eyebrows and caused a lot of comment and raised a lot of excitement among Malians who have never seen anything like it. Everybodys talking about Soumaila Cisses dramatic helicopter campaign. Hasnt it cost a lot for Mali, which is after all a poor country, although its a big country?
When you campaign, you dont use your countrys money. Of course you have friends and I have had the help of my friends. I have a friend who paid for the use of the helicopter for me. As you know, our country is very vast - 1,200,000 square km. Mali is twice as big as France. And if you want to be president, I think you have to have the means to meet all the people.
I think that the helicopter is perhaps spectacular, but all the candidates are using planes. And planes are more expensive than helicopters. Yesterday, I was in Gao and there were four planes, all for presidential candidates. Candidates are flying by plane to Gao, to Kidal, to go to Timbuktu, to go to Mopti. Theres no other way.
If you have to go by car to go to Kidal, it will take you three weeks. And the whole presidential campaign has lasted three weeks. So theres no other solution. I think its only because we have thought about things more carefully, with better reflection, that we have used the best system to get round and see all the people.
It may seem spectacular, but really its the only way to reach all 49 large constituencies in Mali. With my helicopter, Ive managed to get round to 45 of the constituencies. If you want to be president and you stay only in Bamako, you can. But I think its not the best way to become president.
We have harnessed new technology and new opportunities. These days you cant campaign by foot or by horse or by camel or even by car. You know from Bamako to Gao is exactly the same distance as from here to Dakar (Senegal) or from Bamako to Abidjan (Cote dIvoire). If its going to take you three weeks to get to Gao by car, you wouldnt be able to do a quarter of the necessary campaigning and that would not be the best way for us.
Now youve been criss-crossing the whole country; what have you found the people of Mali are saying to you? What do they want from you, as the candidate of the governing Adema party, and what are they accusing the government of not having done?
What I can say is that Ive met a lot, a lot, a lot of people. There is very big enthusiasm for the Adema candidate, for me. And what they want is very basic - schools, running water, roads. They know that in the ten years since Adema came to power, we have done very good things.
I think all the people in Mali know that Adema has a good record. And they want more, thats normal. But I think now, their hope is in Adema. I am sure Adema will win these elections.
What about those who say that, in ten years of President Alpha Konare and the Adema government, corruption has become a huge problem? They also say the education system has been allowed to run down, that you have had a decade to improve the country and, yes, there has been progress, but not enough.
Perhaps you can't believe me, but in three weeks of campaigning, nobody has talked about corruption. When you talk about corruption, you hear those things in Bamako and you hear about it in newspapers.
Nobody, from Kayes to Kidal, is talking about corruption in this country. Im not saying theres no corruption, but its not the main thing on peoples minds. Its not what stands out, the spectacular thing. The new deal now is the main thing.
If theres corruption, well thats not new. I am just a member of the government. If there is corruption, you must ask Mr Konare about it. He is the president of Mali.
Perhaps, but you have been his finance minister, you have been in the Konare government.
Yes, I was his minister of finance and nobody can say Ive been corrupted, that Im corrupt. Nobody. Nobody in this country can say Im corrupt. Nobody.
If you have a case, you can bring the person here. My conscience is clear. My hands are clean. I have no problem with this. If I had a problem, I couldnt be a presidential candidate in these elections. I am well known in this country for this. Its no problem for me.
What about the things that the government has not done over the past decade?
Well, there are problems still to be sorted out. The justice system, schools, too much centralised power concentrated in Bamako etc. But this election will ensure a review of the political scenery.
There are about 80 political parties in Mali and 24 candidates trying to become your countrys new president. Politically, how realistic is this profusion of parties and candidates? Does it show political maturity in Mali? And doesnt it damage your chances?
Sure. But it is not forbidden. You can have 100 candidates. Its in our constitution. You can.
Sure, but how politically mature is it for Mali to have so many parties and so many presidential candidates?
I think there are too many for Mali. It is not ideal that we have 80 political parties, even though this attests to the vitality of our democracy, it is costing Mali a lot. And Mali is a poor country. But all the candidates are not candidates of a specific party. You have civil society candidates, ex-military candidates and others. The number of candidates is not connected to the number of parties, first.
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Secondly, I think that 80 parties is a lot, but we can work to reduce this. And if Im elected, I think its the first thing I have to do: to reduce the number of parties. But its just a suggestion. I think with four or five parties, we can manage this country.
But this phenomenon is not particular to Mali. All over Africa we have a lot of political parties. I think we have to teach people to understand what politics is really about. It is not just my ambition, it should be a national priority to bring down the number of parties. But yes, its far too many to have 24 candidates and 80 parties.
Mind you, in France they had 17 presidential candidates for the election. And they have had more than 200 years of democracy. We in Mali have had just 10 years of democracy, so we have a long way to go. I think we have got to accept that Africa has to go its own way, go step by step to have a workable framework that suits us, that we need for our countries.
Is Soumaila Cisse going to win the presidential election in Mali?
Sure.
In the first round or second round?
Errr. First round I think...
Really?
Really.
What makes you think that?
Just as I told you just now, I have been all around the country and I saw the enthusiasm of the people. If you could have seen peoples faces at the campaign rallies, I think you wouldnt have any doubts. If you stay in Bamako, you get a different impression altogether. But Mali is not Bamako.
