Former Malian PM Ibrahim Boubacar Keita holds the wide lead and could easily win the first round of the West African country’s presidential election

Former Malian Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita holds the wide lead and could easily win the first round of the West African country’s presidential election, officials say.

According to the preliminary results which represent one third of the votes from constituencies throughout the country, Keita could win an outright first-round victory in the presidential election.

“There is one candidate, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who has a wide margin compared with the other candidates,” Minister of Territorial Administration Colonel Moussa Sinko Coulibaly stated on Tuesday, adding that, “There will not be a need for a second round if maintained.”

This comes while Keita’s rivals have rejected the partial results, asking Coulibaly, who is tasked with the elections, to resign. They have also urged an international commission to be launched to tally the ballots.

Former Finance Minister Soumaila Cisse, who according to Coulibaly holds the second place, also failed to accept the results, with his spokesman Amadou Koita calling the announcement “scandalous.”

The competitors believe the elections must go to a second round, while observer missions have hailed the peaceful voting.

Tensions are feared to rise as the announcement of official results is approaching. The vote counting is expected to be completed on Wednesday.

People of Mali went to the polls on July 28 to vote for a new president from among 27 candidates to lead Mali following a recent French-led war and months of political tensions.

The European Union’s top observer put the average voter turnout in the West African country, which has an electorate of seven million, over 50 percent. This is reported to be above Mali’s record high of 40 percent.