Start of legislative elections in Senegal, the executive in search of a large majority

The Senegalese began this Sunday, November 17, 2024, to elect their deputies, with leaders aiming for the largest possible majority to implement the agenda of rupture and social justice with which they were brought to power eight months ago. Dozens of people were queuing in front of polling stations in Dakar from 8 a.m. (closing at 6 p.m.).

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Around 7.3 million voters are called to elect 165 deputies who will serve for five years. “I hope that Pastef (party of Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko) will win the elections to have the majority, it is to better carry out their mandate. The priority is unemployment, young people are so faced with unemployment”underlined a 56-year-old voter at theAFP.

Three years of political confrontations and economic crisis

Among the political forces vying to win a majority is the African Patriots of Senegal party for work, ethics and fraternity (Pastef), from which the Senegalese president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, comes, 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. With him, the Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, his fiery mentor, who should have been in his place if his candidacy had not been invalidated. The first had announced the dissolution of the National Assembly on September 12, with a view to obtaining a parliamentary majority allowing him to implement his political program.

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Facing Pastef, the three major coalitions are Takku Wallu, led by ex-president Macky Sall, Jam Ak Jarin, led by Amadou Ba, the ex-Prime Minister and unsuccessful presidential candidate last March, and finally Sam Sa Kaddu, represented by the mayor of Dakar, Barthélémy Dias.

The executive needs a three-fifths majority to revise the Constitution, as promised, without going through a referendum. Ditto for indicting former president Macky Sall. The opposition warns of the danger of entrusting hegemonic power to a power they consider extremist or incompetent.