 In order to attain their support in elections, bribes and material incentives were given to marabouts from political parties and potential candidates.Many believed that no party could hope to attain political power if the marabouts were completely opposed to it, and any party who rose to power had to comply with the Marabout's demands or lose their political support.While the political elite finds itself regularly in the position of working through the "marabouts", their ultimate goal is to function without them.