Mali’s minister of territorial administration told national television on Tuesday that former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was in the lead in presidential elections with one third of the votes counted.

Colonel Moussa Sinko Coulibaly said Keita’s lead was comfortable enough that he might well win an outright first round victory in a high-stakes presidential election.

He said voter turnout had been “exceptional” on Sunday and proved that the people of Mali were eager for a fresh start after a March 2012 coup allowed separatist and al Qaeda-linked rebels to seize the desert north last year.

It took an offensive by thousands of French troops in January to scatter them into the desert and mountains.

Keita’s rivals include ex-finance minister Soumaila Cisse, Modibo Sidibe, a former prime minister, and Dramane Dembele, the candidate of Mali’s biggest party. They said earlier they were sure a second round would be needed.

Coulibaly said provisional results put Cisse second and Dembele third.

“It is candidate Soumaila Cisse who is in second place and he too, compared to the other candidates, is comfortable ahead of the other candidates,” Coulibaly said.

“For the moment the candidate in third position is Dramane Dembele,” he added.

Coulibaly, whose ministry is in charge of organising the elections, refused to give exact numbers but said the results reflected voting across the country and had been certified by the elections commission.

While voting was peaceful and observers have largely praised the polls, the announcements of results will likely fuel tensions between Keita’s supporters and his rivals, who say they will challenge the results if there is no second round.