Democracy at Play in Senegal As… Opposition Candidate Wins Presidential Poll

History was made in Senegal as opposition candidate, Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared as the winner of the Senegalese Presidential poll. Bassirou, aged 44, secured 53.68% of the vote, whereas the ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba pulled 36.2% of the valid vote cast, with 90% of the results from polling stations counted. Ba had already called Faye earlier in the day to concede defeat following Sunday’s elections. “I wish him a lot of success, for the well being of the Senegalese people”, said Ba.  Faye and Ba were the top Presidential contenders. Bassirou Diomaye Faye is the anointed candidate of Senegal’s popular and controversial opposition politician Ousmane Sonko, while Amadou Ba was the anointed candidate of the outgoing Senegalese President, H.E. Macky Sall who has served two term and wanted to go for a third term.

President Sall threw the country into chaos when he suddenly called off the election, which was supposed to happen in February, and then, almost as suddenly, changed course.

Residents of Dakar, Senegal’s coastal capital, began celebrating at 8 p.m. on Sunday, before many polling stations had even had a chance to count the contents of their ballot boxes. People danced, waved flags, and piled into cars and onto motorcycles, sounding a cacophony of horns and shouting “Get out, Amadou Ba!” as they raced through the streets.

And at midnight, supporters began to sing Happy Birthday to Mr. Faye, who has gone from obscurity to winning the Presidency in a few short months.

But Mr. Faye was not the only winner. Many Senegalese casting their ballots for him saw him merely as a proxy for Mr. Sonko, the fiery orator who was jailed and barred from running, and who anointed Mr. Faye in his place.

Mr. Faye is a former tax collector who was jailed on charges of defamation and contempt of court, after he accused magistrates of persecuting Mr. Sonko, who was himself convicted of defamation and, separately, of corrupting a minor, after he was accused of raping a young massage parlor employee. Mr. Sonko has been keen to emphasize that a vote for Mr. Faye — known to many as Diomaye — was a vote for him.

Delivering his victory speech, the President elect thanked his opponents for respecting senegal’s democratic tradition by recognizing his victory well before the announcing of official results. “in electing me, the Senegalese people have decided on a break with a past”, Faye told journalists in his first appearance since the election, adding, “I promise to govern with humility and transparency”. The election marked the first since Senegal gained independence in 1960, where the incumbent was not running for re-election. It was the first time that an opposition won in the first round of voting. Sall, the nation’s outgoing Leader, did not stand after he served his constitutional two terms in office. He was among the leaders who called Faye to congratulate him on his victory, while hailing “a victory for Senegalese democracy.

The United States echoed the sentiments passed by Sall and his hand-picked candidate, Ba

“The Commitment of the Senegalese people to the democratic process is part of the foundation of our deep friendship and strong bilateral ties”, Mathew Miller, the States Department spokesman said while speaking to journalists on Monday.

A peaceful transition of power in Senegal marks a boost for Democracy in West Africa- a region which has experienced eight military coups since 2020.