The Senegalese opponent Bassirou Diomaye Faye largely won in the first round of the presidential election with 54.28% of the votes, far ahead of the government candidate Amadou Ba (35.79%), indicate the provisional final results announced on Wednesday.
The third out of 19 candidates listed, Aliou Mamadou Dia, only received 2.8% of the votes, according to figures announced to the Dakar court by the president of the National Votes Census Commission, Amady Diouf.
The victory of the anti-system opponent, still in prison ten days before Sunday's election, must now be validated by the Constitutional Council, which could be done in a few days depending on possible appeals. It would be the first time since Senegal's independence in 1960 that an opponent won in the first round.
VIDEO - Presidential election in Senegal: the opposition almost in power
Towards a handover before April 2?
This victory was already understood after the unofficial publication of partial results. The publication by the National Voting Census Commission, under the jurisdiction of justice, confirms the extent of this. Participation was 61.30%. This is less than in 2019, when outgoing President Macky Sall obtained a second term, also in the first round, but more than in 2012.
This accelerated proclamation seems to clear the way for a transfer of power between Macky Sall and his successor.
The serious political crisis caused by the last minute postponement of the presidential election in February and the tightening of the calendar with the setting of the new date of March 24 have sowed doubt about the possibility of an investiture before the official expiration of the mandate of the President Sall, April 2.
This timely transfer, highly significant in a country which prides itself on its democratic practices, now appears realistic, provided that the results do not give rise to challenge before the Constitutional Council.
A candidate has 72 hours to file an appeal before the Constitutional Council after the proclamation by the National Commission. In the absence of dispute within these three days, “the Council immediately proclaims the final results of the vote”, says the Constitution. But in the event of an objection, the Council has five days to decide, and the handover before April 2 could be called into question.
The man “of the break”
Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, never before held in national elective office, is expected to become the fifth and youngest president of the West African country of 18 million people. His opponents recognized his victory.
His election was preceded by three years of tension and unrest. Senegal, known as one of the most stable countries in West Africa, experienced a new crisis in February when President Sall decreed the postponement of the election. Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds arrested since 2021, and Senegal's democratic credentials have been examined in a new light.
The new president himself was detained for months before his release in the middle of the electoral campaign in mid-March.
He presents himself as the man of the “rupture”, of the reestablishment of a national “sovereignty” sold off according to him abroad, and of a “left-wing Pan-Africanism”. His election could herald a profound systemic challenge. Bassirou Diomaye Faye, during his first public appearance since the election on Monday, pledged to “govern with humility, with transparency, to fight corruption” at all levels.
He stated “national reconciliation”, the “refoundation” of institutions and “significant reduction in the cost of living” as his “priority projects”. But he also worked to reassure foreign partners who closely followed the election. Senegal “will remain the friendly country and the safe and reliable ally of any partner who engages with us in virtuous, respectful and mutually productive cooperation,” he said.