AFP Dakar

Dakar

Updated Monday, March 25, 2024-02:57

Senegal 's anti-establishment candidate

, Bassirou Diomaye Faye,

appeared on Sunday night to be close to a victory in the first round of the presidential elections, held after several years of social unrest and political crisis.

Four other

presidential

candidates in the African country

congratulated Faye on Sunday

after the trends observed in the count.

"Congratulations to Mr. Bassirou Diomaye Faye for his incontestable victory," the only female candidate,

Anta Babacar Ngom,

wrote on the social network X. Aspirants

Déthié Fall, Papa Djibril Fall and Mamadou Lamine Diallo

also congratulated Faye.

Faye appeared with a clear advantage over his closest supporter, former Prime Minister

Amadou Ba,

nominated by the ruling coalition, according to the first results of the voting centers published by local media and social networks.

However,

no official results are expected before the end of the week.

Hundreds of people gathered at Faye's campaign headquarters in

Dakar

on Sunday night to sing and dance in celebration of the apparent victory.

The atmosphere at Ba's headquarters was more peaceful, with a few dozen supporters.

Nearly 7.3 million people were called to the polls to elect the successor of outgoing president

Macky Sall,

in a day that took place without significant incidents.

Among the 17 candidates in the running, Ba and Faye emerged as the favorites. Ba, 62, was named prime minister a few weeks ago by the outgoing president, who designated him as his successor.

Faye, 43, is instead considered the "candidate of system change" and "left-wing Pan-Africanism."

Both candidates claimed to be able to win in the first round. The country will hold a runoff in the event that no candidate obtains an absolute majority.

The ruling coalition, which supports Ba, said it is "certain" that there will be a second round.

Senegal maintains solid relations with the West, while

Russia

strengthens its positions in neighboring countries, and is considered one of the most stable countries in the area, recently shaken by

several coups d'état.

Political tension

Civil society, the

African Union,

the

Economic Community of West African States

and the

European Union

sent hundreds of observers.

The last-minute postponement of the elections, originally scheduled for February, unleashed a wave of violence that left four dead.

Several weeks of confusion tested the country's democracy until the election was finally scheduled for March 24. The campaign was reduced to two weeks in the middle of the Muslim fasting month.

The incumbent president, with 12 years in power and re-elected in 2019, did not run in the vote. It is the first time that an outgoing president does not run for re-election.

"Macky Sall has worked a lot and that's why I'm going to vote for Amadou Ba, so he can continue the work," said

Ndeye Penda Faye,

a 23-year-old cleaner, in Dakar.

Diaraaf Gaye,

a 26-year-old shopkeeper, said he voted for Faye "without thinking." "It's time for the country to start over with young people" in power, he said.

Ba presented himself as the candidate for continuity and as a bulwark against the "adventurers" and "amateurs."

Faye, on the contrary, described himself as a "choice for change" by voting with his two wives in their village of

Ndiaganiao

(west).

Sall's legacy

If elected, both will have to face persistent poverty, high unemployment, heavy debt and the departure of thousands of migrants each year on boats to Europe.

Since 2021, the country has experienced episodes of turmoil caused by the dispute between the government and the opposition

Ousmane Sonko,

guide of candidate Faye.

The demonstrations added to social tensions and Sall's uncertainty about his candidacy for a third term.

The crisis was prolonged with the postponement of the presidential elections. Dozens of people died and hundreds were arrested, damaging the country's image.

Sonko and Faye, detained for months, were

released on March 14

after the opening of the campaign. Sonko, disqualified from the vote, put himself at the service of his number two, Faye.

Less popular and charismatic than Sonko, the candidate insisted at a rally on Friday that he was "prepared" to be president.

Faye and Sonko attack Ba as the perpetuator of Sall's government and for being a "billionaire civil servant."

On Friday, Faye promised a "refoundation" of Senegal, with a program that includes the renegotiation of mining and hydrocarbon contracts, as well as defense agreements.