Senegal ruling party claims 'large victory' in elections

RFI

17 November 2024 at 4:32 pm·2-min read

Voters in Senegal cast ballots for the legislative elections

Senegal's ruling party claims to have won a comfortable victory in Sunday's legislative elections, paving the way for it to deliver an ambitious reform agenda eight months after sweeping to power.

Voting took place peacefully across the West African country, where the governing Pastef party said 90 to 95 percent of ballots had already been counted.

"I pay homage to the Senegalese people for the large victory that it has given to Pastef," government spokesman Amadou Moustapha Ndieck Sarre told TFM television.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye's Pastef party had emerged as the vote winner in most of the first polling stations giving their provisional results, according to media reports, beating the two main opposition parties.

Faye secured victory in March pledging economic transformation, social justice and a fight against corruption – raising hopes among a largely youthful population facing high inflation and widespread unemployment.

But an opposition-led parliament hampered the government's first months in power, prompting Faye to dissolve the chamber in September and call snap elections as soon as the constitution allowed him to do so.

"I hope that Pastef will win the elections to gain a majority so that they can better carry out their mandate," said Pascal Goudiaby, a 56-year-old voter in Dakar.

"The priority is unemployment, young people are facing so much unemployment," he said.

Faye appointed his firebrand mentor Ousmane Sonko as prime minister. Sonko's own bid to run for president had been blocked following a three-year deadly standoff with the former authorities.

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