Polls open in Senegal's presidential election
Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Polls have opened on Sunday in the West African State of Senegal for the delayed presidential election that will enable voters to choose the successor of President Macky Sall, whose second and final term ends on 2 April.
An estimated 7.3 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballots from 0800-1800 GMT on Sunday with the names of 19 candidates, including a woman, on the ballot. The results are expected to be announced in days.
Campaign for the election was from 9-22 March, according to a decree signed by President Sall.
Under Senegal's constitution, the winner in the first round should obtain 50% + 1 of the votes. Otherwise, the two frontrunners will go into a run-off.
The official Senegalese Press Agency (APS) reported on Saturday that two of the 19 candidates announced that they were standing down for the main opposition candidate, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
The vote is coming as Senegal came from the brink following political developments after President Sall's decree postponing the election, originally scheduled for 25 February. The decree led to street protests in which at least three people died.
President Sall had issued the decree postponing the election citing suspicions of corruption concerning some magistrates who examined the applications of 93 people to contest the vote.
Parliament then voted to delay the election until 15 December in a chaotic session during which security forces removed opposition lawmakers. The Constitutional Court's declaration of Parliament's vote unconstitutional calmed the political tension.
The main candidates are former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, who is being fielded by President Sall's Alliance for the Republic, APR and opposition leader Faye.
Last Friday, former President Abdoulaye Wade’s Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) announced that it is joining Faye in the election, giving a new dimension to the vote.
The Constitutional Council had disqualified Karim Wade, the PDS’s flagbearer and the former President’s son, from the race over his dual citizenship.
The Supreme Court also rejected his bid to cancel or delay the vote beyond 24 March.
The PDS, in a surprise move, declared its support for Faye, whom popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has chosen as his preferred candidate following his disqualification after conviction for “misleading” Senegalese youths.
Both men are beneficiaries of a recent general amnesty announced by President Sall.
With new political alignments developing, Faye appears to have received a major shot in the arm for the first round of the election.
Reports from across the country indicate that all is set for the crucial election which has attracted great international attention.
Independent human rights experts have urged authorities to ensure that political parties, journalists and human rights defenders can exercise their right to freedom of association, assembly and expression during the electoral period.
A UN statement last Tuesday said the Human Rights Council-appointed experts have previously raised concerns with the Government about the prosecution and detention of opposition leaders and their supporters.
They also welcomed the recent release of over 500 detainees, which included Sonko and Bassirou Faye.
The regional bloc, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has deployed 130 Long-term and Short-term observers led by Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Nigeria's former Foreign Minister and United Nations Under-Secretary General, to monitor the electoral processes. They were joined by Short-Term observers.
There are several bodies observing the election.
President Sall has repeatedly said he would leave office at the end of his mandate on 2 April, saying he has refused "to be tempted by a third term" after being in power for 12 years.
-0- PANA MA 24March2024
