The calm and messages of harmony of the main candidates marked this Sunday in Senegal the elections to elect the successor of the outgoing president, Macky Sall, in a day that takes place without relevant incidents.

More than seven million voters were called to the polls in 6,341 pollining stations that opened at 08.00 local time (same GMT), when there was a wide turnout of the electorate in the capital, Dakar, and other parts of the country.

Sall went to vote in his hometown, Fatick, about 150 kilometers southeast of Dakar, where he was congratulated that the Senegalese can exercise their democratic right in a “peaceful” way, since the country has “an experienced electoral system.”

“Tonight the polling stations will speak and reflect the election of the Senegalese. We hope that this election will be the best,” said the outgoing president, who has fulfilled the two mandates allowed by the Constitution since his coming to power in 2012 and whose successor will be elected from among 19 candidates.

The ruling party’s candidate, Amadou Ba, a 62-year-old former prime minister, who was elected by the governing coalition Benno Bokk Yaakaar (“United for Hope”, in the Wolof language) to continue Sall’s legacy, appealed to “calm” and was confident of achieving victory in the first round.

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“I want to send a message of peace. All (the candidates) are children of this country. The important thing is that the Senegalese can return from tomorrow with tranquility to their occupations,” said Ba, who voted in the capital.

The economic development of Senegal since Sall’s coming to power, especially in infrastructure and energy, with a growth prospect of 10.6% for this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, has been the main argument put forward by Ba during the campaign, despite the high unemployment that affects, above all, young people.

His greatest rival, the opponent Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a 43-year-old fiscal inspector who represents the coalition of the same name, deposited his vote in Ndiaganiao (west), in the Thiès region.

“The elections are the encounter of a man with his people. May the winner be congratulated by the defeated and may life continue so that we can find peace,” asked Faye, who is running for these elections instead of the main opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, whose candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest electoral authority.

Faye demands an institutional renewal, with the abolition of the position of prime minister and the creation of a Vice Presidency, as well as the departure of Senegal from the CFA franc, a controversial regional currency created in 1945 by France (ex-metropolis), and the renegotiation of hydrocarbon extraction agreements.

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Most of the 6,341 pollining stations officially closed this Sunday in Senegal at 6:00 p.m. local time (same GMT), although some remained open so that citizens who were still waiting at their doors could vote.

After the counting of the votes, the National Autonomous Electoral Commission (CENA) will proclaim the provisional results, no later than April 1, and will have to be validated by the Constitutional Council.

To win in the first round, a candidate must obtain more than 50% of the votes.

If no candidate achieves an absolute majority, a second round will be held between the two leaders with the highest number of votes.
Despite the controversy that has surrounded the presidential elections, initially scheduled for February 25, the election day is held without serious incidents, Jaly Badiane, of the “Senegal Vote” organization, in charge of monitoring the votes, told EFE.

On February 3, President Sall announced the postponement of the elections due to the alleged dual nationality of a candidate, something that the Constitution does not allow presidential candidates.

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For the president, that discovery revealed an “allemed case of corruption of judges” that questioned the selection process.
The modification of the electoral date triggered the rejection of the opposition and strong protests in the streets, harshly repressed by the security forces and in which at least four people died.

That crisis undermined Senegal’s fame as one of the most stable democracies in West Africa.

Wide participation when opening the schools for the presidential elections in Senegal

The voters of Senegal went to the polls today massively at the opening of the polling stations, in elections to elect the successor of the president, Macky Sall, in which a high turnout is expected, according to EFE.

In the voting centers of the Senegalese capital, Dakar, long voter queues were the usual scene before the opening of the polls at 08:00 local time (same GMT).

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“I am here to exercise my civil duty. We need a change in the country. Things can’t continue as before,” Alioune Jupiter, 57, who exercised his vote at the Alieu Samb school, in the Ngor neighborhood of the capital, told EFE.

The ruling party Amadou Ba and the opposition Bassirou Diomaye Faye are clear favorites to compete for the Presidency among the 19 candidates who attend the elections.

Ba, a 62-year-old former prime minister, was elected by the ruling coalition Benno Bokk Yaakaar (“United for Hope”, in the Wolof language) and symbolizes the interests of President Sall, who exhausts the two mandates allowed by the Constitution.

For his part, Faye, a 43-year-old fiscal inspector who represents the coalition of the same name, is running in place of the main opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, whose candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest electoral authority.

“We must liberate Senegal,” Bintou Mbengue, one of the more than seven million voters entitled to vote this Sunday, told EFE.

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At 18 years old, Mbengue was the first time she voted and said she was particularly proud to be able to contribute to the country’s improvement through the democratic path.

Tranquility was the usual note in the opening of the voting centers, which are scheduled to close at 6:00 p.m. local time (same GMT).

The elections are held after the serious crisis caused by the postponement of the vote – initially scheduled for last February 25 – decreed by Sall for doubts about the suitability of the list of presidential candidates.

The electoral delay, which caused strong protests in the streets, dispersed harshly by the Police and in which at least four people died, has called into question the democratic health of the country considered the most stable in West Africa.

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