By John Ikani
Voters in Senegal on Sunday voted to elect mayors and local representatives in what was seen as a significant test of support for President Mackie Sall.
The election is the first in the West African country since deadly riots erupted last year following the arrest of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.
The polls, which comes five months before an eagerly awaited general election, is also the first since Sal won a second term in 2019.
The President has come under increasing criticism since then, facing accusations of arranging court cases against his rivals and of planning a bid for a third presidential term in 2024.
Long lines had formed even before the polling stations opened at 8 am.
More than six million Senegalese, almost a third of the population, are eligible to vote for the mayors of more than 500 town halls as well as the heads of 40 administrative regions known as “departments”.
Ibrahima Dieng, a 28-year-old mechanic, was among the first to cast her vote at an elementary school in the Yof district of the capital, Dakar.
“Voting is our only way of having a say in the running of the country,” he said.
Senegal was rocked by several days of clashes and looting in March 2021 after opposition leader Sonko was summoned to court to answer charges of rape in a case that he said was politically motivated.
At least 12 people were killed nationwide, a toll that shocked a country considered a beacon of stability in a volatile region.
The 60-year-old was first elected in 2012 on a promise to help the poor in a country of 17 million people.
He is widely respected on the international scene, but his critics see him as serving the business interests of France, the former colonial power of Senegal.
Political opposition also fears that Sal will try to take advantage of constitutional changes approved in 2016, to argue that the two-term limit does not apply to presidents, and runs again.
Several of his ministers are standing in Sunday’s vote, including Health Minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, who is running for mayor of Dakar.
Unsuccessful 2019 Presidential candidate Sonko is running for Mayor in the southern city of Ziguinchor.
