DAKAR: The Senegalese go to the polls on Sunday to elect a brand new president in a very unpredictable race after three years of turmoil and political disaster. Some 7.3 million voters are registered within the West African nation the place two favourites have emerged: the ruling coalition’s former prime minister Amadou Ba and anti-establishment candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye. They have been each as soon as tax inspectors however now seem to have little in widespread. Ba, aged 62, is providing continuity, whereas the 43-year-old Faye guarantees profound change and left-wing pan-Africanism. Each say they’ll declare a first-round victory — however a second spherical appears to be like possible with 15 different candidates within the subject, together with a sole lady, at a date but to be determined. Former Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall, 68, is taken into account to have an outdoor likelihood. The eventual winner shall be tasked with steering historically steady Senegal out of its current troubles, and managing revenues from oil and fuel reserves which can be shortly to start out manufacturing.Voting will finish at 1800 GMT and provisional outcomes could possibly be identified in a single day. The primary official outcomes are anticipated in the course of the coming week.Senegal has historically been thought-about a beacon of democracy and stability within the coup-hit area, the place Russia is strengthening its affect.- Raucous marketing campaign -A whole bunch of observers shall be out representing civil society, the African Union, the ECOWAS regional group and the European Union. A raucous marketing campaign, lasting simply two weeks after being shortened, adopted a dramatic last-minute delay to the election date, initially scheduled for February 25. President Macky Sall’s intervention to delay the presidential vote sparked unrest that left 4 individuals useless. Sall, who gained reward overseas final yr by renouncing a doable third-term bid, mentioned he referred to as off the vote over fears it will not go easily.After weeks of political disaster, the nation’s high constitutional physique stepped in and compelled him to reset the date to March 24, regardless of clashing with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Sall’s hand-picked would-be successor Amadou Ba has positioned himself as a final bastion in opposition to “bandits”, and urged individuals to vote “for experience and competence instead of entrusting the reins of the country to adventurers”. “We don’t need officials who need two years of apprenticeship,” Ba mentioned at his last marketing campaign rally on Friday. “We need to consolidate what we have. We need to go even faster and further.”He has vowed to create a million jobs in 5 years — however he may also face the darker aspect of Sall’s legacy which incorporates mass arrests, persistent poverty, with 20 p.c unemployment and 1000’s setting off on the perilous voyage to Europe every year. – Radical reform -The current unrest in Senegal was the most recent chapter in episodes of violence since 2021, triggered partly by the stand-off between the firebrand opposition figurehead Ousmane Sonko and the state. Financial and social tensions, in addition to considerations that Sall would run for a 3rd time period, additionally fuelled the unrest that left dozens killed and a whole bunch arrested. The election has additionally been fired up by a quickly handed amnesty legislation that led to the March 14 launch from jail of opposition leaders Faye and the charismatic Sonko. Though Faye is Sonko’s deputy, he’s solely on the poll as a result of Sonko has been barred from standing and in voters’ eyes, they’re a package deal deal.The duo have attacked Ba as “the greatest danger facing Senegal today”. They’ve additionally questioned the place his wealth got here from, branding him a “billionaire civil servant” who “will be the president of foreign countries”. Faye pledged Friday to deliver “radical reform” to Senegal, to renegotiate mining, oil and fuel and defence contracts, whereas on the identical time providing assurances to international traders. “Henceforth we will be a sovereign State, independent, which will work with everyone, but in win-win partnerships”, he mentioned.The pair are hoping to harness Sonko’s charisma and well-liked enchantment in a rustic the place half of the inhabitants is underneath 20.Sonko has drawn a passionate following with Senegal’s youth by means of his rhetoric on sovereignty, in addition to assaults on elites, multinationals and colonial ruler France.Consultants have warned of the potential for tensions to flare on Sunday and after — notably if Ba wins within the first spherical, or Faye fails to achieve the second.
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