Former general wins Mali poll

All eyes are now on General Toure

General Amadou Toumani Toure has won Mali's presidential election, with a resounding 64% of the vote in the decisive second round, according to results issued by the interior ministry.

His rival from the ruling Adema party, Soumaila Cisse, gained 36%.

Results

Amadou Toumani Toure: 64.35%

Soumaila Cisse: 35.65%

The BBC's Joan Baxter in Bamako says that Mr Toure's second round victory had been seen as a foregone conclusion and for several days, attention has been turning to who he names in his government.

More than 40 parties backed him in the second round and they will all be expecting some reward.

"He owes a lot of political favours," says our correspondent.

Relinquished power

Following numerous allegations of fraud and vote-rigging - by both sides - turnout was low for Sunday's second round.

It is even believed that out-going President Alpha Oumar Konare backed Mr Toure, despite coming from the same party as Mr Cisse.

Cisse has complained of his allies turning against him

Mr Konare was unable to stand after serving two terms of office.

The results from the interior ministry must still be confirmed by the Constitutional Court.

Mr Toure was widely acclaimed for helping end the dictatorship of Moussa Traore in a 1991 coup.

He then ran a transitional government and relinquished power to a government elected in multi-party elections.

Tough job

Mr Toure gained most votes in the first round but many of the losing candidates complained that the ballot had been marred by electoral fraud and incompetence.

The bulk of the complaints centred on complaints that the interior ministry, which runs the election, had favoured Mr Cisse.

A record 24 candidates took part in the first round

An opposition coalition led by former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita threw its weight behind Mr Toure.

Despite its overwhelming poverty and lack of economic development, Mali has often been presented as an African success story, mainly because of its recent record of political stability.

But correspondents say any incoming government is likely to find itself confronting serious structural problems to which there will be no short-term solutions.