Petit frère

Since internet is really, really slow and I don't have much time, this will be a short message. Today, we visited several youth wings of political parties, a student organisation and we had lunch with an MP in one of Bamako's many expensive hotels which are practically all sponsored or owned by Qaddafi, le grand guide. He is also providing the new housing of all government buildings.

We learnt a lot today. For example, that people start giggling, and then have to think long and hard when you ask them why exactly they are a member of their party. It usually has nothing to do with ideology, or the electoral programme, but more with personal affiliation, as they say. I guess they mean that friends or family are supporters of that particular party too. We also found out that in order to become a politician, you'll have to have a lot of money, which you have to give to the party. This is not really corruption or something, because it happens out in the open. It's more necessity, because political parties have very little money of their own to spend on electoral campaigns and stuff. Since young people usually don't have much money, they have a hard time getting on the electoral lists.

Another problem is the culture. Young people are often not taken seriously. We spoke with a 'young' MP, who is 38, and if I understood correctly, he's the youngest MP ever in Mali. 'If I have an appointment with a minister, the guy will call me petit frère, in order to belittle me. But I'll have none of that', he said. I liked his attitude.

Well, there is so much more to write about, but I'll have to do that another day. Bonne soirée à tous!