A political earthquake seems to be taking shape in Senegal.
While the country is counting the presidential votes at the end of the first round of an election supposed to decide between continuity and a perhaps radical change after three years of agitation and political crisis, four candidates have already and already congratulated the anti-system Diomaye Faye on Sunday evening for his victory, even before an official proclamation.
The results published office by office in the media and on social networks in fact gave a large advantage to the candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, supported by Ousmane Sonko, ahead of that of power, Amadou Ba, very far ahead of the 15 other competitors around 9 p.m. , three hours after the end of the vote.
Radios and televisions read the complete results from each of the 16,000 polling stations in the country and abroad all evening without agglomerating them.
And Diomaye Faye seemed to be taking off almost everywhere, even if the official results were not announced.
As a reminder, an absolute majority of votes cast is required to win in the first round and no date has been set for a second round.
" At the Palace "
Hundreds of supporters of Bassirou Diomaye Faye were already singing and dancing on Sunday evening to the sound of the tom-tom at his campaign headquarters in Dakar.
Processions of young people on motorbikes roamed the streets of the capital with their horns blaring, chanting “to the presidential Palace”.
The atmosphere was more somber among the few dozen Amadou Ba sympathizers at his headquarters.
A victory for Bassirou Diomaye Faye on his birthday (he turned 44 as of Monday), “candidate for system change” and “left-wing pan-Africanism”, and right-hand man of opponent Ousmane Sonko, could announce a real systemic challenge.
Amadou Ba, 62, would extend the action of the outgoing Macky Sall, of whom he was Prime Minister just a few weeks ago and who appointed him to succeed him.
Both declared themselves “confident” of a victory in the first round.
Outgoing President Macky Sall, who voted with his wife in Fatick (Central-West), warned against premature claims of victory.
What is certain is that Amadou Ba was beaten in his own polling station by Diomaye Faye, which does not bode well for him.
No notable incidents
Some 7.3 million voters were asked to choose between 17 competitors, including one woman.
They queued in dozens or hundreds during the day in front of different offices, without any exact assessment of participation (66% in 2019) being provided.
No notable incidents were reported and several voters expressed their satisfaction at voting, after the unrest caused by the postponement of the election.
Weeks of confusion
The Senegalese were initially scheduled to vote on February 25, as it was still listed on the ballot boxes and ballots this Sunday.
But at the beginning of the month, the outgoing president, Macky Sall, who was not running for a third term, surprised the country by announcing a postponement of the vote.
A decision which had triggered a serious political crisis in the country, which was already experiencing episodes of unrest since 2021 and the standoff between Ousmane Sonko and the power.
Four people died during demonstrations.
Several weeks of confusion tested Senegal's democratic practice, until the date of March 24 was decided.
The campaign was reduced to two weeks, falling in the middle of the Muslim fasting month.
The election is being followed closely, Senegal being considered one of the most stable countries in a West Africa shaken by putsch.
Dakar maintains strong relations with the West, while Russia strengthens its surrounding positions.