Senegal Braces for Opposition to Assume Power in Political Shift

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the opposition leader in Senegal, is being recognized as the victor in the country’s presidential elections.

Early results from Sunday’s vote indicate that Faye is leading the race, surpassing other candidates, including the ruling party’s representative.

According to the campaign director of Faye’s party, Moustapha Guirassy, Faye has received congratulatory phone calls from 13 out of his 18 competitors. Although the official results are yet to be announced, Faye’s supporters have already started celebrating in the streets of Dakar, the capital city, as initial indications show his majority support. However, Amadou Ba, Faye’s main rival from the ruling coalition, has disputed the outcome, stating that a run-off election will be necessary to determine the winner.

The elections witnessed a turnout of approximately 71%, with over 7 million registered voters across 15,000 polling stations in the country.

These elections were initially scheduled for the previous month but were postponed by outgoing President Macky Sall, leading to violent clashes.

The country’s top election court later deemed the government’s plan to postpone the voting until December as unconstitutional and ordered them to be held before Sall’s term expired on April 2.

Sall opted out of participating in the election, marking the first instance in Senegal’s history where an incumbent was absent from the ballot. The decision to postpone the vote was made in order to address a conflict between the judiciary and legislators regarding the exclusion of key opposition figures from the final list of candidates.

Ousmane Sonko, the former leader of PASTEF, was one of the individuals disqualified due to his alleged criminal background, despite having been in jail. Faye, a co-founder of the PASTEF coalition, had also been imprisoned about a year ago on charges of defamation and contempt of court.

Recently, President Sall approved an amnesty law that resulted in the release of Sonko and Faye from prison just before the elections. Both individuals campaigned together under the slogan “Diomaye is Sonko.”