Malians – and Africans- in general are not into ideology but see their Presidents as Kings.They want to pay allegiance to a Hero/King figure.  A candidate needs to be not only rich but already known to the electorate. He needs to be famous, or infamous- it doesn’t really matter which , as long as he is not unknown.  ADEMA the oldest and most established party here has made a very large mistake in chosing Dramane Dembele, a virtual unknown from the party ranks.  Dembele is not only unknown but suffers from the added handicap of being young. The rationale for their choice was that Mali needed a new face- their slogan is ‘Le Nouveau Visage au Mali’, someone unblemished by dirty dealings in the previous ATT era.