Opposition supporters take to streets in celebration however ruling coalition says a run-off will probably be wanted to find out the winner.
Supporters of Senegal’s presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye have taken to the streets of the capital, Dakar, in celebration as early outcomes from Sunday’s vote confirmed the opposition contender within the lead.
The celebrations got here as a minimum of 5 of the 19 candidates within the race issued statements congratulating Faye on what they referred to as his victory.
However his predominant rival from the ruling coalition, former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, stated the celebrations had been untimely.
“For our half, and contemplating the suggestions of the outcomes from our group of consultants, we’re sure that, within the worst case state of affairs, we’ll go to a run-off,” Ba’s marketing campaign stated in a press release.
There was no instant remark from Faye.
Hundreds of thousands in Senegal occurred in Sunday’s vote to elect the nation’s fifth president. It adopted three years of unprecedented political turbulence that sparked violent antigovernment protests and buoyed assist for the opposition.
At stake is the potential finish of an administration led by outgoing President Macky Sall, who’s stepping down after a second time period marred by unrest over the prosecution of opposition chief Ousmane Sonko and considerations that the president wished to increase his mandate previous the constitutional restrict.
The incumbent was not on the poll for the primary time in Senegal’s historical past. His ruling coalition picked 62-year-old Ba as its candidate.
Sonko, in jail till lately, was disqualified from the race due to a defamation conviction. He’s backing the co-creator of his now-dissolved PASTEF get together, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was additionally detained nearly a 12 months in the past on prices together with defamation and contempt of courtroom.
An amnesty regulation handed this month allowed their release days earlier than the vote.
He and his colleague Diomaye have campaigned collectively beneath the banner “Diomaye is Sonko”.
About 7.3 million individuals had been registered to vote within the nation of roughly 18 million. Turnout was at about 71 p.c, in keeping with state tv RTS.
Election day ran easily with no main incidents reported.
The primary set of tallies introduced on tv confirmed Faye had received nearly all of votes, triggering widespread road celebrations in Dakar.
Jubilant supporters gathered in Sonko’s neighbourhood as supporters set off fireworks, waved Senegalese flags and blew vuvuzelas.
“That is actually an uncommon election,” stated Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque, reporting from outdoors Sonko’s house in Dakar.
“Individuals are celebrating outdoors the house of a politician who just isn’t even within the working – Ousmane Sonko. For the individuals right here, the truth that this election even occurred is a motive to have a good time. There was a lot pent-up emotion being launched. On these streets simply weeks in the past, there have been riots, demonstrators protesting for this election to happen.”
He added: “Nobody has claimed victory. The counting remains to be beneath method, however there are some notable candidates who’ve all congratulated Faye.”
They included one of many predominant contenders, Anta Babacar Ngom, who wished Faye success as chief of Senegal in a press release.
“Congratulations to Bassirou Diomaye Faye on his unquestionable victory,” she stated in a submit on X.
It was not clear how most of the 15,633 polling stations have been counted to date.
Last provisional outcomes are anticipated by Tuesday. A second spherical of voting will solely happen if no candidate secures the greater than 50 p.c majority required to stop a run-off.
