Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: CEM OZDEL / ANADOLU / ANADOLU VIA AFP 8:25 a.m., March 26, 2024

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who turned 44 on Monday, released from prison only ten days ago, presented himself as the “choice of rupture”. He will become the fifth and youngest president of this West African country of 18 million inhabitants after the recognition on Monday by his main opponent of his victory in the first round of the presidential election, which amounts to a political earthquake.

The winner of the presidential election in Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, assured this Monday that his country would remain the "safe and reliable ally" of all "respectful" foreign partners, during his first public appearance since the announcement of his victory historical. “I would like to say to the international community, to our bilateral and multilateral partners that Senegal will always hold its place, it will remain the friendly country and the safe and reliable ally of any partner who will engage with us in virtuous, respectful cooperation and mutually productive," he said in a statement to the press.

On the domestic front, Bassirou Diomaye Faye indicated that his “priority projects” would be “national reconciliation”, the “refoundation of institutions” and “a significant reduction in the cost of living”. “I am committed to governing with humility, with transparency, to fighting corruption at all levels,” he declared.

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A first for the country

In twelve presidential elections based on universal suffrage, this is the first time that an opposition candidate has won in the first round. “People are thirsty for change when we see what is happening in this country in terms of corruption, non-respect of the law, and the one who most embodied this change is Ousmane Sonko”, the opponent who dubbed Faye to replace him after being disqualified from the presidential election, explains to AFP El Hadji Mamadou Mbaye, teacher-researcher at the University of Saint-Louis.

The latter speaks of "emotional" voting more than reason, particularly on the part of young people. Bassirou Diomaye Faye was clearly the winner of the election based on provisional results published in the media and on social networks. But his victory remained pending recognition by the ruling candidate Amadou Ba, in the absence of official publication of aggregate results, which should take a few more days. Amadou Ba admitted his defeat on Monday and called his opponent to congratulate him. Outgoing President Macky Sall also congratulated the winner.

American “friendship”

After three years of agitation and crisis, the election took place without major incident. Despite the tensions of recent years and a last minute postponement of the election, this is the third time that Senegal has practiced alternation in the polls since its independence from France in 1960, while a succession of coups d'état installed military regimes among its neighbors postponing the elections to an indefinite date.

The confusion that preceded the election gave rise to multiple expressions of commitment to democratic practice. “The commitment of the Senegalese people to the democratic process is part of the foundations of our deep friendship and our strong bilateral ties,” responded US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. 

The election was closely followed abroad, Senegal being considered one of the most stable countries in West Africa, shaken by putsch. Dakar maintains strong relations with the West, while Russia strengthens its surrounding positions. French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Monday evening in a message on X. “I wish him all the best and look forward to working with him,” he wrote.

Congratulations to Bassirou Diomaye Faye on his election as President of the Republic of Senegal.



I wish him every success and look forward to working with him.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 25, 2024

"Sovereignty"

Benefiting from an amnesty law, Bassirou Diomaye Faye came out of eleven months of imprisonment ten days before the election, at the same time as his guide and leader of their dissolved party, Ousmane Sonko. Faye wants to be the “candidate for system change” and “left-wing pan-Africanism”. His program insists on the reestablishment of national “sovereignty”, which he believes has been sold off abroad. He promised to fight corruption, better distribute wealth and pledged to renegotiate mining, gas and oil contracts concluded with foreign companies.

Senegal could start producing gas and oil in 2024. Since 2021, the country has experienced various episodes of unrest caused by the standoff between Ousmane Sonko and the government, combined with social tensions. Poverty affects at least one in three Senegalese people, and unemployment affects at least 20% of the active population. The country plunged into one of its most serious crises in decades after President Sall decreed, on February 3, a postponement of the presidential election scheduled for three weeks later. The unrest has left dozens dead in three years and led to hundreds of arrests.