Senegal launches voting for presidential elections after delay
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.
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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.
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.
