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Confident of victory: presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye after voting on Sunday
Photo: SEYLLOU / AFP
The final result of the presidential election is eagerly awaited in Senegal. According to the first partial results from the individual polling stations, which were gradually disseminated in the media and online networks on Monday night, the opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye is clearly ahead.
15 candidates took part in the election, and several congratulated Faye on her victory after the first projections were announced. Anta Babacar Ngom, who was the only woman to run, wrote on the online network X about Faye's "undeniable victory."
Competitor Ba is supported by the incumbent president
Meanwhile, supporters of government candidate and former Prime Minister Amadou Ba said they were “sure” that there would be at least a runoff election. They accused Faye's camp of "manipulation." Ba is supported by outgoing President Macky Sall.
To win the presidential election in the first round, one of the candidates would have to receive an absolute majority of votes. No date has yet been set for a possible runoff election. In the election, 7.3 million people were called upon to cast their votes.
On Monday night, hundreds of Faye's supporters celebrated and danced to drum rhythms in front of Faye's campaign headquarters in the Senegalese capital Dakar. Young people on motorcycles drove through the streets of the capital, honking their horns.
Faye is a replacement candidate for the popular Ousmane Sonko
Faye promises to take action against inequality and corruption. He has proposed monetary policy and institutional reforms, as well as the renegotiation of oil, gas and mining contracts. Faye had recently been chosen by popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko as a replacement candidate because Sonko himself was barred from running due to a defamation conviction.
Faye, who was also accused of defamation and contempt of court, was recently released from prison after President Macky Sall launched a general amnesty for prisoners accused of crimes related to anti-government protests.
Sall recently came under massive criticism for his plans not to hold the planned elections until the end of the year and thus remain head of state for many months beyond his actual term in office. Protests have sometimes been violently suppressed, and dozens of people are said to have been killed in recent months. Until now, Senegal has actually been considered an anchor of stability in West Africa. Despite a tense atmosphere, the elections were peaceful until the polls closed on Sunday.
Official results were not expected until later in the week. Information on voter turnout was not initially published; in the previous presidential election in 2019 it was 66 percent.
fek/AFP/Reuters/AP