“The suspense persists”, could we read in one of the August 2 edition of the Senegalese daily The sun about the legislative elections of July 31. The first trends reported by the media point to a close ballot, the official results of which will be announced by the National Vote Counting Commission (CNRV) at the end of the week at the latest. However, the opposition and the presidential camp are already vying for victory.
#Featured of your newspaper the “Sun” of Tuesday, August 02, 2022.
Your daily newspaper is available in your dedicated points.#LeSoleil_Digital pic.twitter.com/9xJS16PB4S– SSPP The Sun (@LeSoleilonline) August 2, 2022
On the night of July 31, Aminata Touré, head of the list of the presidential coalition Benno Bokk Yakaar assured to have gained 30 departments, on the 46 which account Senegal and constituencies abroad, while recognizing the defeat in Dakar, the capital. “This undoubtedly gives us a majority in the National Assembly”, she said.
His speech was followed by a press release from the main opposition coalition, “Yewwi Askan Wi” (Release the People in Wolof), which had also claimed victory, speaking of a “comfortable majority” for the Yewwi Wallu alliance. The latter brings togetherYewwi Askan Wi”, formed around Ousmane Sonko who came third in the 2019 presidential election, and the “Wallu Senegal” coalition (Save Senegal in Wolof), led by ex-president Abdoulaye Wade.
“We hold national and international opinion to witness against any attempt to manipulate the results (…) and we also call on all Senegalese to stand up for securing the victory of the people”insisted the coalition “Yewwi Askan Wi”. The Senegalese opposition again claimed to have “won the election” on August 1 at a press conference of the alliance Yewwi Wallu.
Civil society stepped up to remind politicians that they should wait for the official proclamation of the results. According to the Senegalese newspaper Daily SouthBabacar Fall, sgeneral secretary of Research group and support for participatory democracy and good governance (Gradec), thus invited “political actors to refrain from announcing the results before the institutions empowered to do so in order to preserve peace and social stability”.
These legislative elections, the last ballot before the presidential election of 2024, are a test after the local elections in January, won by the opposition in large cities in this West African country known for its stability, such as Dakar, Ziguinchor (south) and Thiès (west).
These elections, in a single round, aim to renew for five years the 165 seats of the unicameral Parliament largely controlled by power. President Macky Sall has promised to appoint a Prime Minister, a post he had abolished and then restored in December 2021, within the victorious formation of the elections. The vote took place calmly and without major incident, with a participation rate of 47%, according to the Ministry of the Interior.