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23-11-2024
DAKAR: Senegal’s ruling Pastef party has won a resounding victory in legislative elections, securing 130 of 165 seats in parliament, according to provisional results.
The win grants newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye a clear mandate to carry out ambitious reforms promised during the campaign. They include fighting corruption, revamping the fishing industry and maximizing natural resources benefits.
After the results were read out by the national vote-counting commission on Thursday, Pastef representative Amadou Ba told reporters the majority represented a vote of confidence that should encourage Senegal’s international backers.
“It is very important not only in terms of the legitimacy of the new authorities but also regarding our technical and financial partners that they know that there is a people standing behind this new government,” Ba said in comments aired on state television.
“I believe this will only accelerate the process of structural reforms in our economy and our society.”
The main opposition coalition, led by former President Macky Sall, won 16 seats. Sall congratulated Pastef in a post on X on Election Day, and two other major opposition leaders conceded defeat hours after the polls closed on Sunday.
Ousmane Sonko, Pastef’s highly charismatic prime minister, is considered the mastermind behind the legislative landslide.
Sonko came to power with Faye in March after a landslide victory. He said an opposition-led parliament hampered his government’s power in the first few months after the elections and decided to dissolve parliament on September 12 and call snap elections.
Faye and Sonko have promised to diversify political and economic partnerships, review hydrocarbon and fishing contracts, and re-establish Senegal’s sovereignty, which they said has been sold abroad.
Polls were closed in Senegal’s parliamentary elections as President Bassirou Diomaye Faye aims for a resounding majority to see through the promises of ambitious reforms that swept him to power eight months ago.
More than seven million of the country’s 17 million people were eligible to vote on Sunday to pick members of the 165-seat National Assembly for a five-year term. Polls opened at 8am (08:00 GMT) and closed at 6pm (18:00 GMT). The first provisional results are expected by Monday morning, but the final count will only be published later in the week.
Faye secured victory in March pledging economic transformation, social justice and a fight against corruption raising hopes among a largely youthful population facing high inflation and widespread unemployment. He dissolved the National Assembly in September. Faye appointed his firebrand mentor Ousmane Sonko as prime minister after Sonko was barred from running for president due to defamation charges against him.
The pair promised a left-wing pan-African agenda promising to diversify political and economic partnerships, review hydrocarbon and fishing contracts and re-establish Senegal’s sovereignty, which they alleged had been “sold abroad”.
An opposition-led parliament hampered the government’s first months in power, leading Faye to dissolve the parliament in September and call snap elections as soon as the constitution allowed him to do so.
Analysts say Senegalese voters have historically confirmed their presidential choice during parliamentary elections, and the governing Pastef party is the favorite to win.
Earlier this year, the West African country witnessed the worst violence in decades in the run-up to the presidential vote. (Int’l News Desk)
