Senegal elects Macky Sall's successor with latent tension due to the delay in the elections

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

About 7.3 million people are 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.

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The postponement of the elections triggered a wave of violence and led the country's highest constitutional authority, the Constitutional Council, to reject attempts to delay the vote, as well as extend Sall's term beyond April 2.

As part of the demonstrations, dispersed by the Police, at least four people died and raised doubts about the democratic situation in the country, considered the most stable in West Africa.

Fight between “dolphins” of the ruling party and the opposition

Prime Minister Amadou Ba, who was relieved of his duties on Wednesday before the campaign, is among the 19 authorized candidates by the constitutional council of Senegal to run.

Ba, 62, was chosen by the ruling coalition Benno Bokk Yaakaar (“United for Hope”, in the Wolof language) and symbolizes the interests of President Sall.

On the opposition side, the “anti-system” candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye stands out, a 43-year-old tax inspector who represents the coalition of the same name, and who is running in place of the main opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, whose candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Council, the highest electoral authority.

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 Sall to appease protests over the postponement of the elections.

“(If I am) elected president, I intend to establish a unity government based on the values ​​of the Republic, democracy and freedoms,” said Ba during the final campaign event on Friday, March 22 in the Senegalese capital, Dakar.

Meanwhile, Faye closed the city of Mbour (west).

“It is time for Senegal to embrace a new era, that of a sovereign, just and prosperous Senegal,” highlighted the opposition candidate, before the start of the day of reflection this Saturday.

To avoid a second round, a candidate must obtain more than 50% of the vote.

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“The opposition has certainly gained momentum after the release of Faye and Sonko,” said Mucahid Durmaz, senior West Africa analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft. “Sonko's charismatic and enthusiastic presence is boosting Faye's campaign.”

But, without opinion polls, it is unclear whether any candidate will win more than 50% of the vote to avoid a second round.

Senegal's economic development since Sall came to power in 2012, especially in the infrastructure and energy sectors, with a growth perspective of 10.6% for this year and 7.4% for next, according to the International Monetary Fund, has been the main argument put forward by Ba.

The official candidate defends a continuity agenda, where Senegal must become the “locomotive of the Economic Community of West African States (Cedeao).”

However, the pressing unemployment rate (between 19% and 22%), especially among young people, has been used by the opposition as a weapon to appeal for change.

Besides, Faye demands an institutional renewal, with the abolition of the position of prime minister and the creation of a Vice Presidencyas well as Senegal's exit from the CFA franc, a controversial currency created in 1945 by France in the region, and the renegotiation of hydrocarbon extraction agreements.

Apart from Faye and Ba, the candidates include Khalifa Sall, 68 years old and former mayor of Dakar; and former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck, 62.

Two of the main opposition leaders will not participate: Sonko and Karim Wade, son of former president Abdoulaye Wade, whose candidacies were rejected by the Constitutional Council.

The exclusion of these politicians is seen by the opposition as an attempt to pave the way for the ruling coalition.

The elections will be supervised by international electoral observation missions, such as the European Union, which will deploy a hundred observers, and ECOWAS.

Fear of regional instability

The months of unrest raised fears of a setback in one of the most stable democracies in a region that has suffered eight military coups in three years.

Mouhamadou Diallo, 25, a telecommunications engineer, said the next president should restore trust between the government and the people and address growing inequality.

“Life is excessively expensive, there are no jobs and, given our resources, there should be a fairer redistribution of wealth, so that it is more equitable,” said Diallo, 25.

“There is a building on every corner, but I can't afford a home or even land. This type of reality creates frustrations that accumulate over time,” he said.