The Prime Minister of Mali advocated the holding of parliamentary elections in the country

The Prime Minister of Mali, Bubu Cissé, advocated the holding of the last round of parliamentary elections, despite the coronavirus pandemic. This is reported by the Air Force Africa with reference to the statement of the Prime Minister at a briefing in Bamako. The security and sanitation measures we wanted to put in place will obviously be enforced during [election] day to ensure distance is respected, Cissé said on Sunday, April 19. Cissé stressed that elections are the only chance to bring the country back to stability. The first round of parliamentary elections took place three weeks ago, despite jihadist attacks and intimidation, including the abduction of opposition leader Sumail Cissé. The vote took place despite the coronavirus pandemic, which, however, medical facilities in Mali are not ready to respond to. In the West African country, 216 cases of COVID-19 were reported, including 13 deaths. The elections were originally supposed to have been held in 2018, but they were repeatedly postponed, mainly due to insecurity. The army has been fighting militants in the north of the country since 2012, reporters said.