Senegal holds delayed Presidential election

Senegal holds delayed Presidential election

Polls have now officially opened across Senegal. Voters in Senegal are due to cast ballots to elect their next president.

There are no clear frontrunners, but former Prime Minister Amadou Ba from the ruling Benno Bokk Yaakaar coalition and Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who is running in place of disqualified opposition figure Ousmane Sonko, are among those seen as the leading contenders.

A candidate will have to win more than 50 percent of the vote to secure a win in the first round.

Nineteen contenders are vying to replace President Macky Sall, who is stepping down after a second term marred by violent unrest over the prosecution of firebrand opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and concerns that Sall wanted to extend his mandate past the constitutional limit.

The incumbent is not on the ballot for the first time in Senegal’s history. His ruling coalition has picked former prime minister Amadou Ba, 62, as its candidate.

Sonko, who was disqualified from the race due to a defamation conviction, is backing former tax inspector Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 43, co-creator of the now dissolved Pastef party.

Some high-profile politicians and opposition candidates have also backed Faye’s candidacy.

Other contenders include ex-Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall (no relation to the outgoing president), entrepreneur-turned-politician Anta Babacar Ngom, who is the only woman running, and veteran politician Idrissa Seck, who came second in the 2019 presidential election.

Around 7.3 million people are registered to vote, with polls opening at 0800 GMT and closing at 1800 GMT.

Vote counting will start immediately after polls close and provisional results are expected by March 26.