After the concession of several opponents, opposition leader Bassirou Diomaye Faye is now the clear favorite to win Senegal’s presidential election.
After three years of unrest and rallies by the opposition against the incumbent, Macky Sall, millions of people cast their ballots on Sunday.
Nineteen candidates were available to voters.
Amadou Ba, the nominee of the ruling coalition, denied claims of a loss and stated he anticipated running in a run-off election to determine the victor.
Just a few days prior to the voting, Mr. Faye, 44, a member of Ousmane Sonko’s Pastef party, was incarcerated. Due to a conviction for defamation, Mr. Sonko was eliminated from the competition.
Huge street celebrations broke out in Dakar’s capital after the first round of tallies, which were displayed on television, revealed that Mr. Faye had won the majority of the vote.
Fans blew vuvuzelas, waved Senegalese flags, and lit off fireworks.
Five opposition candidates declared Mr. Faye the winner as a result of the results. In a statement, one of the front-runners, Anta Babacar Ngom, wished Mr. Faye well.
Mr. Sonko supported Mr. Faye, who was also arrested over a year ago on allegations of contempt of court and defamation and who was a co-founder of the now-dissolved Pastef party.
This month’s amnesty bill permitted their release several days prior to the election.
Together, they have run campaigns under the slogan “Diomaye is Sonko.” Mr. Faye’s candidacy has received support from a number of prominent leaders and opposition candidates.
After casting his ballot, Mr. Faye declared, “The populace is choosing between continuation and rupture,” pleading with the other candidates to concede to the victor.
That was not the first time in Senegal’s history that Mr. Sall, the incumbent, was on the ballot. Former prime minister Mr. Ba, 62, was chosen by his ruling coalition.
According to Mr. Ba’s campaign, “we are positive that, in the worst-case scenario, we will go to a run-off” after receiving input on the findings from their team of specialists.
There were roughly 7.3 million voters in the roughly 18 million-person nation.
The number of voting places out of the 15,633 that have been counted thus far is unknown. On Tuesday, the final tentative results should be known.
The election was scheduled to occur last month, but Mr. Sall postponed it, triggering deadly opposition protests.
(BBC)
