Results of the 2024 legislative elections in Senegal: What does Pastef’s victory mean for the country?

The victory of Senegal’s ruling party in legislative elections gives President Bassirou Diomaye Faye a strong mandate to implement the radical economic and social reforms he promised when he was elected in March.

About seven million of the country’s 18 million people voted to choose deputies for five-year terms.

The Pastef party said on Monday it had won the legislative elections with more than 120 seats – it needs 83 to obtain a majority in the 165-seat National Assembly.

The counting of votes continues and the final result is expected later this week.

Former Prime Minister Amadou Ba and Dakar Mayor Barthelemy Dias, both at the head of opposition coalitions, conceded victory on Monday, while vote counting was still underway.

Meanwhile, former President Macky Sall, leader of the main opposition coalition Takku Wallu, congratulated Pastef in a post on social media platform X.

Voting took place peacefully across the country over the weekend, although there were sporadic clashes between supporters of different parties during the campaign period leading up to the election.

“We are proud of the Senegalese people and we would like to thank them for the large victory they gave to Pastef,” government spokesperson Amadou Moustapha Ndieck Sarre told the BBC.

Until now, President Faye and his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko have struggled to get their reforms adopted by an opposition-dominated parliament.

Mr. Faye appointed Sonko, his political mentor (who was barred from running for president), as prime minister shortly after he became president.

Both men campaigned promising radical change, with a sovereignist agenda, promising to review Senegal’s relations with France, the country’s former colonial power.

The political and socio-economic landscape of the country is now ready to experience significant developments.

Initial positive reactions from some Senegalese on the social media platform, X, supported the new leaders after the first eight months of Faye’s mandate.

“They had to run the same campaign themes that they had used during the elections to win,” explains Alioune Tine, political expert and founder of the think-thank Afrikajom Center.

“They did it well, Sonko was on the pitch and did a good job. People love it,” he adds. “This seems like a big slap in the face for the 12 years in power of the former president, Macky Sall. »

President Faye, Africa’s youngest elected leader at 44, promised economic reforms, social justice and the fight against corruption, which resonated with many young people.

However, the new government will likely face significant challenges in a country hit by high unemployment rates and shaky public finances.

For Ali Hann, sociologist and political analyst from the ISM group, “the survey shows that the Senegalese population had had enough of the previous regime and chose change”.

While the coalition led by the former president had experience and a solid electoral campaign machine behind it, Hann said several elements were slowing its momentum, “an obvious loss of momentum, the dislocation of its strategy, the presence of so-called “transhumants” in its ranks.”

With a fifth of the population unemployed and inflation soaring, President Faye has a lot to do.

Last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a three-year, $1.8 billion credit facility for Senegal, but that financing is on hold pending the results of a government audit. .

Mr Faye ordered a review of the state of the country’s economy which revealed a much larger debt and budget deficit than the previous administration had announced,

Last month, Mr Faye’s team unveiled the government’s 25-year development plan entitled “Senegal 2050”. This plan commits to emphasizing competitiveness, sustainable resource management and good governance.

“Among the concrete promises announced is that of training 700,000 young people over the next five years, in order to stimulate job creation and fight against unemployment,” explains Magaye Gaye, independent economist. Our young talents are desperately looking for opportunities and expect a lot from the couple, he adds.

“The government also wants to reduce the cost of electricity through the exploitation of gas and oil, and make Senegal energy self-sufficient as quickly as possible. »

Like most of its neighbors, Senegal has a young population: more than 60% of the population is under 25 years old and almost all those who work are in low-paid informal jobs. The skyrocketing cost of living is leading a growing number of young Senegalese to leave the country in search of better opportunities in Europe or the United States.

In French-speaking West Africa, several countries are demanding monetary sovereignty and the end of “Francafrique”, a neocolonial approach that Paris has long employed in its relations with its former colonies. However, since becoming president, Diomaye Bassirou Faye has traveled to Paris three times to meet Emmanuel Macron, sparking criticism.

Additionally, it will be interesting to see how Senegal plays its role as designated ECOWAS mediator with Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, all of whom left the bloc earlier this year.