Senegal Election: Outgoing President Macky Sall warns against premature victory claims

As millions of voters in Senegal went to the polls this Sunday, March 24^th, 2024, to elect their new president, Macky Sall has cautioned presidential candidates against prematurely claiming victory in the upcoming election.

After casting a vote in the central western town of Fatick, he said, “It is neither up to a candidate nor to a (political) camp to proclaim victory or results.”

Sall added that the polling stations will be the only ones to determine the election’s outcome. Sall, who was voting alongside his wife, is not seeking re-election.

‘Impressive’ turn out

Election observers like Babacar Gueye, who heads Senegal’s COSCE civil society network of observers, have said turnout among the more than 7 million registered voters appeared to be high in the morning.

“At the opening of polling stations today, I have never in the past 15 years have seen so many people going to vote,” Babacar Gueye, told The Associated Press.

The election has been described as a tightly contested one, with several young candidates vying for the top job.

Meet the candidates

In the lead-up to Sunday’s highly anticipated election in Senegal, the release of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko from prison last week sparked jubilant celebrations in the streets of Dakar and reignited enthusiasm for the electoral race. Sonko, previously barred from running due to a defamation conviction, is now throwing his support behind his key ally, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was also recently released from incarceration.

Expressing her support for Faye, 52-year-old cook Khodia Ndiayes stated, “I’m proud to have voted. We need a new president because life is expensive, the economy is bad, and we need better schools.”

Amadou Ba, Sall’s “confident” candidate

Amadou Ba is the presidential candidate for Senegal’s governing coalition. After voting this Sunday in Dakar, the former prime minister Amadou Ba, said he was “very confident” of a first-round election victory.

“There is no doubt that at the end of today we should know the next president of the republic,” he said, adding he was “very, very, very confident” of his chances.

Prime Minister Amadou Ba, 62, is a ruling party candidate and Sall’s preferred successor. The former minister of economy and finance and then foreign affairs, Ba, presents himself as a candidate for stability and the continuity of the incumbent’s economic record, while also promising a return to calm after months of political crisis.

Ba focused his campaign programme on youth employment in a country where three-quarters of the population is under 35. His key promise: is to create 1 million jobs by 2028 through public/private partnerships and investment in agriculture, industry, infrastructure, and renewable energies.

He also calls for updating “conventions and contracts signed by the state of Senegal in the field of natural resources,” providing a minimum financial allowance to the elderly, and accelerating the construction of a national school of cultural arts and crafts.

The lone female candidate

Senegal’s only female presidential candidate may stand little to no chance of winning Sunday’s election, but activists say her presence alone is helping to advance a decadeslong campaign to achieve gender equality in the West African nation.

Anta Babacar Ngom, a 40-year-old business executive, is a voice for both women and young people — groups hit hard by the country’s economic troubles, widespread unemployment, and rising prices. She has promised to create millions of jobs and a bank for women to support their economic independence.

“Our country has enormous potential. The natural resources are there, and they can be developed,” she told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “The young girls I meet ask for my support. They do so because they know that when a woman comes to power, she will put an end to their suffering. I’m not going to forget them.”

Few expect Ngom to emerge among the leading candidates for the presidency, but activists say the fact that a woman has made it to the presidential race for the first time in years reflects how women are inching ahead in the struggle for equality.

Bassirou Diomaye Faye

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, a replacement for opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who was excluded from the presidential race in January, has had even less time than other candidates to campaign in person. The cofounder of the opposition Pastef party, who was released from prison along with Sonko on March 14, is campaigning against the country’s political class and promises to reclaim Senegal’s “sovereignty,” a term used 18 times in his electoral platform.

To this end, Faye proposes getting rid of the CFA franc inherited from the colonial era to introduce a new currency, and to make the teaching of  English widespread in a country where the official language is French. He also says he wants to renegotiate mining and hydrocarbon contracts, as well as defence agreements.

The Pastef platform also aims for institutional reform with the creation of the role of vice president and safeguards to check the power of the president, including potential removal from office.

Abdoulaye Wade

Former prime minister Idrissa Seck, who served under ex-president Abdoulaye Wade between 2002 and 2004, is running in a fourth consecutive presidential race.

The 64-year-old former Sall opponent, who long maintained the suspense surrounding his eventual candidacy, has put his political experience and knowledge of the inner workings of government to use in his bid to win over voters.

Among his signature proposals are compulsory military service, the creation of a common currency for West African countries, and a fund financed by oil and gas companies to compensate for damage to the fishing industry.

The founder of Senegal’s Rewmi party also proposes to devote 60 percent of public investment to areas outside the Dakar region.

Khalifa Sall

Sall (no relation to the outgoing president) is another Senegalese political heavyweight trying his luck in the race. Sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 5 million CFA francs for fraud and embezzlement of public funds in 2018, the leader of the Taxawu Senegal coalition was barred from entering the 2019 presidential contest.

Macky Sall’s rival has since returned to politics thanks to a presidential pardon and a law authorising the restoration of civil rights for convicted people who were amnestied following a national dialogue initiated by the government in May 2023.

In this election, the 68-year-old Sall is presenting himself as the candidate to heal a “damaged” country. The man who sees himself as the heir to Senegal’s socialist party promises to institute a citizen-initiated referendum. He also pledges to devote at least 1,000 billion CFA francs (1.5 billion euros) of the annual national budget to agriculture.

Sall’s foreign policy programme aims to “diversify and rebalance” diplomatic and economic partnerships by “strengthening (global) south-south cooperation and cooperation with emerging countries.”

The election comes after President Macky Sall unsuccessfully tried to postpone the Feb. 25 vote until the end of the year, sparking violent protests. The constitution forbids Sall from seeking a third term.

Official results are expected next week, but in previous elections, candidates have announced their predictions on the same evening as the vote.

Analysts predict that no candidate will secure more than 50% of the vote, necessitating a runoff election.

Mimi Mefo Info