Senegal is holding presidential elections on Sunday. There are 17 candidates vying for the top post. In the favorites - an associate of the current president Macky Salleh and a confederate of the country's main opposition Ousmane Sonko
The most scandalous election in the history of Senegal
March 24 is presidential election day in Senegal, one of Africa's most stable democracies. But this time the vote is fraught with scandal: usually elections are held in February, and the 2024 vote was also scheduled for February 25, but three weeks before the election, head of state Macky Sall said he had decided to postpone it indefinitely. The reason, Sal said, was "confusion about the candidates." In January, the Constitutional Council approved a list of presidential candidates without including influential opposition leaders, sparking public discontent. "These difficult conditions could seriously undermine the credibility of the ballot, sowing the seeds of pre- and post-election disputes," explained Maki Sal in his address to the nation (quoted by Reuters), accusing the Constitutional Council of corruption in appointing the contenders.
The US-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) drew attention to the fact that Senegal's elections have never been postponed before and that, against this background, many suspected the president of being reluctant to relinquish power. Although Salle explicitly said in the summer of 2023 that he would not run for a third term, he is, according to the foundation, "clearly influencing the current presidential race."
Following Salle's announcement, Senegal's parliament scheduled elections for December 15, 2024. This provoked mass protests. The Constitutional Council overturned the presidential decision, calling it illegal, and also ruled that Macky Salle's term of office, which expires on April 2, cannot be extended, so elections must be held as soon as possible. The President, in order to resolve the situation, announced the start of a so-called national dialog (already the second since mid-2023) on what day to schedule the elections. Participants in the consultations, which took place in Diamniadio, a town near the capital Dakar, proposed a date of June 2, and Macky Sall promised that he would appoint an acting president to run the country until the elections. The opposition, on the other hand, demanded that the vote be held before April 2. In the end, the Constitutional Council set the elections first for March 31 and then for March 24; Maci Salle then set the campaign period from March 9 to 22, two weeks instead of the traditional three.
Presidential candidates
There are 17 candidates running in the election, the highest number in Senegal's history. There were originally 20, but three have already withdrawn from the race. The Constitutional Council approved the list of candidates in January and, despite conflicts with the election date, did not revise it. Whoever wins more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round will win; if not, the top two candidates advance to the second round, where a relative majority of votes is enough to win.
France 24 TV highlights four politicians who have a realistic chance of being elected.
Amadou Ba, 62, is a supporter of Macky Sall. One of the key politicians in the latter's government - from 2013 to 2019 he was Minister of Finance and Economy, from 2019 to 2020 he headed Senegal's Foreign Ministry, and from 2022 to 2024 he was Prime Minister. The nominee of the presidential coalition Benno Bokk Yakaar (translated from the Wolof language as "United by Hope"). A former tax inspector, Ba presents himself as an advocate of stability and continuity, betting on public reconciliation after months of political crisis. He has focused his campaign on the theme of youth employment (three-quarters of Senegal's population is under 35): his main promise is to create one million additional jobs in the country by 2028.
Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, is the main candidate of the non-systemic opposition. He is a close associate of main opposition politician Ousmane Sonko - together they founded the party Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l'éthique et la fraternité (Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l'éthique et la fraternité, PASTEF) in 2014.
Sonko was charged with child molestation in 2021 (this charge was later dropped) and sedition in 2023; he was arrested and convicted in the summer of 2023 and the PASTEF party was dissolved. Diomaye Fai was also arrested and convicted - he was charged with libel and contempt of court after criticizing Sonko's prosecution. He is now being called the opposition leader's understudy: when it became clear after a series of trials that Sonko would not be able to run, the opposition began calling for votes for him. Diomaye Fai and Sonko were only released from prison on March 14 of this year, after parliament passed an amnesty law initiated by Macky Salem, affecting those convicted of political protests between 2021 and 2024.
Diomaye Faye favors the so-called purification of the political class and the return of Senegal's sovereignty. One of his key ideas is to get rid of the CFA franc (a monetary unit introduced in 1945 in the then French colonies in West and Equatorial Africa), introduce a new currency, and expand English-language teaching. (PASTEF supporters generally insist on reforming government - in particular, introducing a vice president and presidential guarantees, which imply that the head of state can be removed from office.)
Idrissa Seck, 64, is considered a protégé of Senegal's previous president, Abdoulaye Wade, who led the country from 2000 to 2012 and is now 98 years old. He was prime minister from 2002 to 2004, ran for president in 2007 (second place); nominated for the 2012 and 2019 elections. In his program, he proposes the introduction of compulsory military service, the creation of a common currency for West African countries, and the formation of a fund that would finance oil and gas companies and that would compensate for damage caused by fishing (one of Senegal's key revenue streams).
Khalifa Sall, 68, the namesake of Macky Sall, held several positions in the government of President Abdoul Diouf, who led Senegal from 1981 to 2000. He was mayor of Dakar from 2009 to 2018. In 2018, he was sentenced to five years in prison and fined 5 million CFA francs for fraud and embezzlement of public funds. Eligible to run after a presidential pardon under the 2023 political amnesty. Positions himself as the candidate who can "heal the republic." Considers himself the successor to the Socialists who ruled the country from 1960 to 2000, and pledges to allocate 1 billion CFA francs from the annual budget to agriculture. In foreign policy, favors strengthening South-South cooperation.
Popularity of candidates
Presidential candidates can commission opinion polls to shape their campaign strategy, but it is forbidden to publish the results of the polls. Senegalese analysts decided to assess the popularity of the candidates by analyzing how many views their campaign videos get on the YouTube channel of the Senegalese broadcasting corporation RTS. The results of such calculations, conducted between March 10 and March 13, are given by the publication Jeune Afrique: the leader is Diomaye Faye (251.9 thousand views), in second place Ba (74.9 thousand), followed by Seck (66.6 thousand) and Sal (less than 55 thousand views, he is ahead of other candidates, whom the media do not consider favorites).
According to The New York Times, the main struggle will be between Ba and Diomaye Fai. And the latter has less chance: since he was released from prison only ten days before the election, he has had little time to campaign; moreover, he is little-known, given that he was nominated and supported by Sonko. "Neither Mr. Ba nor Mr. Fay is particularly well-liked in Senegal, and neither is expected to win a landslide victory," the publication notes, concluding that Senegal is likely to face a runoff for the presidency.
0 Comments