Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Pezeshkian: The Zionist entity has killed more than 60,000 people in Gaza, is preventing water, food, and medicine from reaching the people, and yet it speaks of human dignity
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian: The United States and the Zionist entity are sending contradictory messages to the world in the name of peace
Pezeshkian: Trump talks about peace on the one hand, while threatening war on the other, and he talks about human rights, yet he supports an entity that has killed 60,000 people in Gaza
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian: We will not give up our rights under threat, and we will not relinquish the achievements we have made on various levels
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in southern Lebanon: An Israeli drone targeted a vehicle on the Abu al-Aswad road in the Tyre area
Russian Defense Ministry website: The condition for an immediate ceasefire is the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from all five regions claimed by Russia
Russian Defense Ministry website: One of the conditions stipulates that Ukraine should accept Russia's constitutional demands in Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Crimea
Russian Defense Ministry website: Ukraine must adopt European standards on minority rights and end nationalist propaganda
Russian Defense Ministry website: The Russian conditions include a mutual waiver of any claims for compensation for war losses
Russian Defense Ministry website: Russian conditions in the Istanbul negotiations include no foreign forces should remain on Ukrainian territory

Senegal launches voting for presidential elections after delay

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 24 Mar 2024 15:48
3 Min Read

With 15 other candidates in the field, including a sole woman, it is not clear if and when a second round will take place.

  • x
  • Senegalese opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye casts his ballot for the presidential elections, in Ndiaganiao, Senegal, March 24, 2024. (AP)
    Senegalese opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye casts his ballot for the presidential elections, in Ndiaganiao, Senegal, March 24, 2024. (AP)

Voting on Sunday kicked off in Senegal for a new president after three years of political crisis.

Around 7.3 million voters are registered and two favorites emerged: the governing coalition's former prime minister 62-year-old Amadou Ba and anti-establishment candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

With 15 other candidates in the field, including a sole woman and former Dakar mayor 68-year-old Khalifa Sall, it does not look clear if and when a second round will take place.

Voter Mohamed Bop told AFP, "It's a symbolic and historic day for me because it wasn't easy to hold these elections, it was gained through a great fight... So, I'm very relieved and proud."

Voting is due to end at 1800 GMT, and provisional results could begin to emerge overnight, with the first official results expected during the coming week.

However, Senegal's outgoing President Macky Sall warned presidential candidates against making premature election victory claims.

"It is neither up to a candidate, nor to a (political) camp to proclaim victory or results," Sall said after voting with his wife in the central western town of Fatick. "It is the polling stations that will speak," he added.

Observers will be representing civil society, the African Union, the ECOWAS regional group, and the European Union.

Related News

Senegal sets March 24 as final date for presidential elections

Senegal constitutional body overturns presidential vote delay

The elections were originally scheduled for February 25 yet President Macky Sall's intervention in an effort to delay it left 4 dead in riots.

In Dakar, protesters expressed their discontent by waving Senegalese flags and chanting slogans, with some labeling President Macky Sall as a "dictator". Clashes between demonstrators and police were reported in various locations, including Touba city in central Senegal, Thies city, east of Dakar, the northern city of Richard Toll, and Kolda in the south, as reported by residents and social media posts.

Appealing to the youth

Sall had proposed to push the elections to April 2, the day his mandate expires, however, the opposition accused him of attempting to carry out a coup after filing for a second delay.

Then earlier this month, Senegal announced that a delayed presidential election would be held on March 24, after a top court ruled that a proposal to further push them back was unconstitutional.

On Friday, Ba called on people to vote "for experience and competence instead of entrusting the reins of the country to adventurers," saying, "We don't need officials who need two years of apprenticeship". 

"We need to consolidate what we have. We need to go even faster and further," he continued as he promised to create one million jobs in the next five years.

Meanwhile, Faye on Friday vowed to establish "radical reform" in Senegal, such as renegotiations of mining, oil and gas and defense contracts, and offering assurances to foreign investors.

"Henceforth we will be a sovereign state, independent, which will work with everyone, but in win-win partnerships," Faye said. 

This all comes as Ba and Faye are trying to overpower opposition leader Ousmane Sonko who has appealed to half of the country's population whose age is under 20, as he appeals to the country's youth and sovereignty while attacking elites and France.

  • Macky Sall
  • Senegal
  • Amadou Ba
  • Ousmane Sonko
  • diomaye faye

Most Read

Two F-35 jets arrive at it's new operational base Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, at Hill Air Force Base, in northern Utah. (AP)

F-35 near-misses over Yemen signal new risks for 'Israel': Forbes

  • Politics
  • 14 May 2025
Palestinians pray over bodies of people killed in the Israeli bombardment who were brought from the Shifa hospital before burying them in a mass grave in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP )

Gaza casualty figures mask a much bigger horror, new study shows

  • Politics
  • 11 May 2025
Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

  • Politics
  • 15 May 2025
Abu Obaida

Abu Obeida posts shortly after Israeli reports about his assassination

  • Palestine
  • 15 May 2025

Coverage

All
Gaza prevails against genocide

Read Next

All
Israeli media: Yemen may push 'Israel' towards ceasefire in Gaza
MENA

Israeli media: Yemen may push 'Israel' towards ceasefire in Gaza

Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Friday, May 16, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Trump administration planning to send 1 million Palestinians to Libya

President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
Politics

'Israel' concerned, says US withholding info about indirect Iran talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the annual ceremony at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in occupied al-Quds on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu cancels Vatican visit over fears of ICC arrest

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS