Senegal, awaiting the results of the presidential elections after the start of the recount

First modification: 03/24/2024 – 23:29

4 min

The Senegalese went to the polls this Sunday, March 24, to elect the successor of the outgoing president, Macky Sall.

Millions of people lined up to elect Senegal's fifth president after three years of unprecedented political turbulence that sparked violent anti-government protests and bolstered support for the opposition.

About 7.3 million people were registered to vote among Senegal's nearly 17 million people, more than 60% of whom are under 25 years old.

The elections were initially scheduled for February 25, but Sall abruptly delayed them to February 3, just hours before the campaign began. He said the postponement was due to risks arising from disputes over the list of candidates.

The first counts show that the opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye leads the votes, however, the official results will only be known on Tuesday, March 26.

Dolphin fight

Voters could choose between 19 candidates to replace President Macky Sall, who resigned after a second term marred by unrest over the prosecution of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and concerns that Sall wanted to extend his term beyond the constitutional limit.

Unknown until months ago to the general public, the political career of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a 43-year-old tax inspector and one of the top favorites in the presidential elections this Sunday in Senegal, has been under the shadow of Ousmane Sonko, the main opposition leader. from the country.

Faye and Sonko had been detained since the middle of last year and were released, once the electoral campaign had begun.within the framework of an amnesty as a gesture by the outgoing president, Macky Sall, to appease protests over the postponement of the elections.

For his part, the representative of the ruling party, Amadou Ba, a 62-year-old former prime minister, who was chosen by the ruling coalition Benno Bokk Yaakaar (“United for Hope”, in the Wolof language) to continue Sall's legacy, was confident of achieving victory in the first round, after casting his vote in the capital.

“I voted for Diomaye without thinking,” said Diaraaf Gaye, a 26-year-old shopkeeper. “It is time for the country to start on a new basis with the youth” in power.

But Ndeye Penda Faye, 23, a housekeeper, said she had her hopes pinned on the government candidate: “(President) Macky Sall has done a lot of work and that is why I am going to vote for Amadou Ba, to continue the work “, said.

The end of an era?

What is at stake is the possible end of an Administration that has promoted investor-friendly policiesbut which has failed to alleviate economic difficulties in one of the most stable democracies in West Africa, a region prone to coups.

The current president was not on the electoral ballot for the first time in the history of Senegal. His ruling coalition chose former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, 62, as its candidate.

Election day passed without a hitch and no major incidents were reported. Polls closed at 18:00 GMT, after which polling stations began publishing their counts.

The first set of recounts announced on television showed that Bassirou Diomaye Faye had won the majority of votes, sparking widespread street celebrations among opposition supporters in the capital, Dakar.

Final provisional results are expected on Tuesday. A second round of voting will be held if no candidate obtains the greater than 50% majority needed to avoid a second round.

Sonko, imprisoned until recently and disqualified from the race due to a defamation conviction, supports Faye, co-creator of his now-dissolved Pastef party.

A amnesty law approved this month allowed his release days before the vote. They have campaigned together under the motto “Diomaye is Sonko”.

“The population is choosing between continuation or breakup,” Faye said after casting her vote, urging contenders to accept the winner.

With EFE and Reuters