Senegal elections: first results out of polls

 

Senegal opposition candidate Faye leads initial presidential election tallies

Reuters - By Diadie Ba

March 24, 2024 - 10:16 PM

DAKAR, March 24 (Reuters) - The first polling station tallies of Senegal's delayed presidential election on Sunday showed opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye taking the lead, prompting street celebrations after a peaceful day of voting that many hope will bring change.

Millions lined up to elect Senegal's fifth president following three years of unprecedented political
turbulence that sparked violent anti-government protests and buoyed support for the opposition.

At stake is the potential end of an administration that has pushed investor-friendly policies but failed to ease
 economic hardship in one of coup-prone West Africa's more stable democracies.

Voters had a choice of 19 contenders to replace President Macky Sall, stepping down after a second term marred by unrest over the prosecution of firebrand opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and concerns that
Sall wanted to extend his mandate past the constitutional limit.

The incumbent was not on the ballot for the first time in Senegal's history. His ruling coalition picked
former prime minister Amadou Ba, 62, as its candidate.

The election day was smooth with no major incidents reported. Polls closed at 1800 GMT, after which
voting bureaus started publishing their tallies.

The first set of tallies announced on television showed Faye had won the majority of votes, triggering widespread street celebrations among opposition supporters in the capital Dakar.

About 7.3 million people were registered to vote in the country of around 18 million. It was not clear how many of the 15,633 polling stations had finished counting.

Final provisional results are expected by Tuesday. A second round of voting will take place if no candidate secures the more than 50% majority required to prevent a runoff.

Sonko, in jail until recently, was disqualified from the race because of a defamation conviction. He is
backing Faye, the co-creator of his now dissolved Pastef party, who was also detained almost a year ago on charges including defamation and contempt of court.

An amnesty law passed this month allowed their release days before the vote. They have campaigned 
together under the banner "Diomaye is Sonko". Some high-profile politicians and opposition candidates
have backed Faye's candidacy.

"The population is choosing between continuation and rupture," Faye said after casting his vote, urging contenders to accept the winner.