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©Reuters. Voters prepare to cast their votes in the presidential election at a polling station at the École HLM Grand Medine in Dakar, Senegal, on March 24, 2024.Reuters/Luc Nyago
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Written by Deardi Ba
DAKAR (Reuters) – Opposition candidate Bashir Diomai Fay was in the lead in the first counting of polling stations in Senegal's postponed presidential election on Sunday, with many people calling for peace in hopes of bringing about change. Celebrations were held in the streets after the voting day.
Millions of people turned out to elect Senegal's fifth president after three years of unprecedented political turmoil that sparked violent anti-government protests and boosted support for the rebels. They lined up.
At stake is the potential demise of a government that has pursued investor-friendly policies but failed to alleviate economic hardship in one of West Africa's more stable democracies, which is prone to coups. be.
Voters turned over concerns over the prosecution of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and concerns that Sall wanted to extend his term beyond constitutional limits that led to the election of Mackey, who resigned after his second term in office. They were able to select 19 candidates to replace Mr. Sall.
This is the first time in Senegal's history that an incumbent has been removed from the ballot. His ruling party chose former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, 62, as its candidate.
Voting day went smoothly with no major incidents reported. Voting ended at 18:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), after which voting bureaus began publishing the results.
Initial televised tallies showed Fay won a majority of the votes, prompting huge street celebrations among opposition supporters in the capital Dakar.
In this country of about 18 million people, about 7.3 million people are registered to vote. It is unclear how many of the 15,633 polling stations have finished counting.
The final preliminary results are expected to be announced by Tuesday. If no candidate receives the required 50% majority to avoid a runoff, a second round of voting will be held.
Sonko, who was most recently in prison, was disqualified from the race following a defamation conviction. He is a supporter of Fay, a co-founder of the now-disbanded Pastev party, who was also detained almost a year ago on charges including defamation and contempt of court.
An amnesty law passed this month granted his release days before the vote. They have been campaigning together under the banner „Diomaye wa Sonko''. Several prominent politicians and opposition candidates have supported Fay's candidacy.
„The people are making a choice between survival and extinction,“ Fay said after the vote, urging candidates to accept the winner.
“Diomae is Sonko.”
Sall, who was first elected in 2012, was forced to step down after his popularity worsened as authorities tried to postpone the vote to December. It was originally scheduled for February 25th.
The move stoked fears of unrest and authoritarian overreach, and Senegal's Constitutional Council ruled that a vote must be held by April 2, when Sall's term ends.
After the vote, Ba called for peace and said he hoped the Senegalese people would soon find a new president and return to normal life.
Fay promised to root out corruption, restore stability and prioritize economic sovereignty, appealing to urban youth frustrated by a lack of jobs in a country where 60% of the population is under 25.
But some of his pledges, such as plans to renegotiate oil contracts as Senegal plans to begin offshore oil and gas production, have raised concerns about the country's image as a destination for investors. is causing it.