“large victory” for the ruling party

On Sunday, the Senegalese government spokesperson announced that the ruling party had won “a big victory» in the legislative elections, which should allow him to apply the agenda of rupture and social justice with which he was brought to power eight months ago.

«I pay tribute to the Senegalese people for the great victory they gave to Pastef», the party of the president and the Prime Minister, declared government spokesperson Amadou Moustapha Ndieck Sarré on the TFM channel, specifying that he was in possession of “90 to 95% of results». «Strong trends show that Pastef will have a qualified majority“, he said without specifying how many seats Pastef would have. Reliable projections of the new Assembly could be available by Monday morning thanks to the media.

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Pastef came out on top in a large majority of voting centers for which the media announced the provisional results as they were posted. Two of the main leaders of the opposition list, the mayor of Dakar Barthélémy Dias and the runner-up in the 2024 presidential election Amadou Ba, as well as other opponents of Pastef congratulated the latter.

Pastef beat MM. Dias and Ba in their polling station, according to partial results. The head of government Ousmane Sonko largely wins in his office in Ziguinchor (south), these results indicate. No significant incidents have been reported. The Takku Wallu Senegal coalition of former President Macky Sall, however, denounced in a press release a “massive fraud organized by Pastef».

Years of political and economic crisis

Various actors reported a lower participation than that of the presidential election in March (61.3%). In the 2022 legislative elections, 46.6% of those registered voted.

Bassirou Diomaye Faye was elected president in the first round in March, devoid of any executive experience but pulled to the top by the enthusiasm and aspiration for change of a young population tested by three years of political confrontation and economic crisis . His fiery mentor Ousmane Sonko, who should have been in his place if his candidacy had not been invalidated, became Prime Minister.

For months, these lawyers of a “left-wing pan-Africanism» led a conflictual coexistence with an Assembly still dominated by the former presidential majority. Mr. Faye dissolved it as soon as constitutional deadlines permitted, in September. Around 7.3 million voters were therefore called on Sunday to elect 165 deputies who will sit for five years.