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CWA # 1363, 31 March 2024
NIAS Africa Studies
Elections in Senegal: A democratic victory in Africa

  Anu Maria Joseph

On 29 March, Senegal’s Constitutional Council confirmed the provisional election results declared on 26 March. Opposition leader Diomaye Faye won the elections, securing 54.28 per cent of the votes against Amadou Ba, who secured 35.79 per cent. The voter turnout was 61 per cent. 

On 26 March, President-elect Faye pledged to govern Senegal "with humility and transparency." He stated: ‘’By electing me, the Senegalese people have chosen to break with the past."

The same day, outgoing President Macky Sall congratulated Faye describing the results as "a victory for Senegalese democracy." Opposition candidate Amadou Ba stated: “In light of presidential election result trends and while we await the official proclamation, I congratulate … Faye for his victory in the first round."

On 29 March, the AU welcomed the “unanimous acceptance of the results.” The AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, congratulated Faye on his victory and wished him “full success in his weighty and noble charge.”

On the same day, French President, Emmanuel Macron, conveyed his greetings to Faye and asserted that France wanted to “continue and intensify the partnership” between the countries.

A background to Senegal elections
Senegal, a former French colony, is referred to as a symbol of democracy in West Africa; a region where a series of coups have been unfolding. Senegal never witnessed a coup. Since 2000, it had five consecutive successive democratic power transfers. Outgoing president Sall was elected in 2012 and secured a second term in 2019. He hinted at a third term through his increasingly authoritarian policies and widespread crackdown on the opposition; however, it failed.

This year, 19 candidates ran for the elections. The main competition was between Diomaye Faye and Amadou Ba. Faye belongs to the Patriots of Senegal (PATSEF) party, however, ran independently as his party got banned in July 2023. Amadou Ba ran for the ruling Alliance of the Republic party and as Sall’s successor. He vied for the political continuity of his government. Faye is a political newcomer. He has become the country’s youngest president. Faye campaigned to fight corruption and prioritise economic interests, including monetary reforms and the renegotiation of mining and energy contracts. Faye ran with the support of Ousmane Sonko, a young leader who gained popularity for his anti-corruption stance. Faye and Sonko were in jail until 15 March under the charges of provoking insurrection, conspiracy, corrupting the youth and endangering state security. Faye replaced Sonko as the presidential candidate after Sonko was barred from running in the elections. They campaigned together under a popular slogan “Diomaye is Sonko.” The only female candidate was Anta Babacar Ngom, a political newcomer who runs Senegal’s largest poultry company.

Senegal has witnessed a series of violent protests since 2021 against Macky Sall, corruption and authoritarian shift. Sall’s administration resorted to a violent crackdown on the opposition to break down the protests. In June 2023, the leader of the protests, Ousmane Sonko, and his supporters were arrested, and his party, PASTEF, was banned. In July 2023, Sall announced that he would not run for a third term. Later, in February this year, another wave of protests erupted after Sall announced a postponement of elections to December 2024, citing a dispute between the constitutional court and the National Assembly over the eligibility of the candidates. However, the Constitutional Council annulled the postponement and demanded to hold an election before 2 April, when Sall’s term in office ends. 
 
What does this mean?
The previous week, the global media were discussing Senegal’s democracy in peril with the postponement of elections. The latest elections and the results came as a surprise. Although the elections did not gain media attention outside Africa, the intervention of the judiciary against Sall’s postponement of elections was an exceptional development that changed the country’s political course. 

Since 2020, the region has gone through seven military coups- two each in Mali, and Burkina Faso, and one in Niger, Chad and Guinea. The election in Senegal is an isolated event in West Africa, a region known to be Africa’s coup-belt. The elections were also the outcome of the mass protests. The protests that coerced the change in government imply the victory of democracy in Senegal and a lesson for Africa and beyond.

Now, the bigger challenge for Faye and his government would be the unemployment rate which has reached 20 per cent. Faye has promised larger economic and monetary reforms which are relatively unfavourable to foreign investors including its former colonial leader France. The change in the government is likely to bring a major shift in the country’s foreign policy. How the new government would address these challenges is to be anticipated. 

About the author
Anu Maria Joseph is a Research Associate at NIAS.

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