Polls close in Senegal’s keenly contested 2024 presidential election

Vote counting is under way in Senegal after a delayed presidential election that many hope will bring change after a turbulent political period that has triggered violent anti-government protests and boosted support for the opposition.

More than seven million of the country’s over 17 million people were registered to vote in Sunday’s election.

Nineteen contenders are vying to replace President Macky Sall, stepping down after a second term marred by unrest over the prosecution of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and concerns that Sall wanted to extend his mandate past the constitutional limit.

The incumbent was not on the ballot for the first time in Senegal’s history. His ruling coalition has picked former prime minister Amadou Ba, 62, as its candidate.

Sonko, in jail until recently, was disqualified from the race because of a defamation conviction. He is backing the co-creator of his now-dissolved PASTEF party, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was also detained almost a year ago on charges including defamation and contempt of court.

An amnesty law passed this month allowed their release days before the vote.

He and his colleague Diomaye have campaigned together under the banner “Diomaye is Sonko”.

Besides Ba and Faye, Dakar’s former Mayor Khalifa Sall, veteran politician Idrissa Seck, former Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, a close ally of President Sall Aly Ngouille Ndiaye and entrepreneur and political newcomer Anta Babacar Ngom — the sole woman among the candidates — are all a part of the presidential race.

To avoid a run-off election, one candidate must secure more than 50 percent of the vote. While official results are expected next week, in previous elections candidates have announced their predictions on the same evening as the vote.

After casting his vote, Ba called for peace and said he wished for the Senegalese people to find out who their next president is soon and to calmly resume their daily lives. He said he was “very, very, very confident” of his chances of winning.

Most of Sonko’s supporters are expected to vote for Faye, analysts say.

“The population is choosing between continuation and rupture,” Faye said after voting, urging contenders to accept the result.

While the elections come amid frustrations over a fragile economy, according to election observers, the voting process has been relatively peaceful.

Hundreds of election observers from civil society, the African Union, the regional group the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union were on the ground monitoring the fairness of the vote.

“From the opening this morning, our observers – and it’s a partial piece of the picture – we have seen that there are quite some queues in front of the offices, which shows that people are mobilised to go and use their right to vote and express their views for the future of Senegal,” Malin Bjork, from the EU election observer mission to Senegal, told Al Jazeera.

“Election offices are functioning well. It’s calm; there is serenity in the process, according to our observations,” she added.

Source: Al Jazeera

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