(Dakar) Anti-system opponent Bassirou Diomaye Faye, still in prison ten days ago, is declared the winner of the presidential election in Senegal, but the confirmation of his victory, which would amount to a political earthquake, remains pending .
Mr. Faye, 44, never before elected national office, has remained silent since he voted on Sunday.
His main opponent, the government candidate Amadou Ba, told supporters during the night that he would speak at midday, ensuring that he was “respectful of the law, the Republic and its institutions”.
Official results are not expected to be known until later this week.
After three years of agitation and crisis, the Senegalese are still waiting to know the outcome of yesterday’s vote, which will decide between continuity and perhaps radical change.
The national electoral commission has until Friday to publish provisional results, before their validation by the Constitutional Council.
“At the stage we are at, the chips are down” in favor of Mr. Faye, said Ababacar Fall, leader of Gradec, an NGO for democracy and good governance.
“The government candidate can no longer compensate for the gap in view of the trends,” he said, based on his organization’s projections based on 70% of the ballots.
An absolute majority of votes cast is required to win in the first round. Failing that, the first two compete in a second round.
The results published in the media and on social networks place the candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye clearly ahead of the one in power and very far ahead of the others.
Newspapers proclaimed Mr. Faye’s victory on their front pages. “Diomaye the plebiscite”, headlinesObserver. “Happy Birthday Mister President” poster Walf Dailynot.
His victory “is almost achieved because from what we see, from the figures that have just come out there, I tell you that there will be no second round,” rejoices Serigne Aïssanine, coordinator youth of the President Diomaye coalition.
“It’s a total revolution. Everything will change. On the behavioral side, on the social side, on the financial side, everything will change,” declares Coumba Diallo known as “Queen Biz”, a singer who supports Mr. Faye.
At least ten of the 17 candidates congratulated Mr. Faye in view of the provisional results published by the media. The certainty of victory triggered scenes of jubilation among his supporters in the capital and in Casamance (south).
But the campaign management of the ruling candidate said it was certain that, “in the worst case scenario”, Mr. Ba would be in the second round.
“Breakup”
A victory for Mr. Faye could herald a profound systemic challenge, not only because he would become the youngest president of Senegal.
Mr. Faye, benefiting from an amnesty law, 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.
Mr. 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 and better distribute wealth, and also pledged to renegotiate mining, gas and oil contracts concluded with foreign companies.
Senegal could start producing gas and oil in 2024.
The election is being followed closely, with Senegal 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.
This country of 18 million inhabitants has experienced various episodes of unrest since 2021 caused by the standoff between Ousmane Sonko and the government, combined with social tensions.
Senegal plunged into one of its most serious crises in decades when 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.
Both camps blame each other for these events which have altered the Senegalese democratic showcase. Mr. Faye promised “the break” by voting alongside his two wives on Sunday in his village of Ndiaganiao (west).
Mr. Ba, who was still President Sall’s prime minister a few weeks ago, poses as a guarantor of stability. He had to take on all aspects of President Sall’s legacy: the major works that transformed the face of Senegal, but also persistent poverty, high unemployment, and the hundreds of arrests in the recent period.