By Lucy Adautin
A judge at the Dakar Court of Appeal has affirmed the triumph of opposition figure and anti-establishment advocate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, securing over 54% of votes in Sunday’s presidential polls.
The court unveiled provisional election outcomes on Wednesday, reflecting a full count from all polling stations.
Faye, 44, won the presidential election by 54.28% over ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba, who came in second with 35.79% of the vote.
After being postponed by outgoing President Macky Sall, the presidential election took place on Sunday, leading to violent clashes and widespread unrest throughout the nation.
The turnout in presidential elections was 61.30%, with more than 4 million votes cast out of over 7 million registered voters in the nation of 18 million people, with 19 candidates vying for the prestigious position.
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According to Senegalese authorities, the Constitutional Council will announce the official and final results of the presidential election in the coming days.
Following that, President-elect Faye would be sworn in to take over the office as outgoing head of state Sall’s mandate would expire on April 2.
Before the provisional results were announced, the first trends already pointed to Faye winning the first round.
His victory was widely welcomed by almost the entire Senegalese political class.
“This augurs a great maturity of the electoral system, of the elite of the Senegalese people,” said the African Union’s (AU) electoral observation mission in its report released on Wednesday.
It praised the “practice of democratic courtesy” in the country, which is often cited as an example of African democracy.
Before his election, President-elect Faye promised to restore national “sovereignty” and implement a “pan-Africanism” program, replacing the colonial-era currency, the CFA Franc.
Pan-Africanist economists and African politicians believe that this currency allows France to maintain its dominance over African countries.
Senegal, among other West African nations, plans to introduce the ECO, a common currency for Africa. Faye’s win could expedite this process.
However, in his victory address, he pledged to maintain strong partnerships with reputable foreign allies, without explicitly naming France.
