After a tense campaign – and without official results for the moment – the two main political camps are displayed as winners
Le Monde with AFP
The presidential coalition claimed a victory in the legislative elections organized on Sunday July 31 in Senegal, a success contested by the opposition which speaks of “prefabricated majority”. “We have gained 30 departments” out of the 46 in Senegal and constituencies abroad. “This undoubtedly gives us a majority in the National Assembly,” said the head of the presidential coalition, Aminata Touré on Sunday evening.
“We gave a majority to the National Assembly to our President of Coalition”, Macky Sall, added Ms. Touré, without giving the number of deputies obtained by her camp nor specify if it is a relative or absolute majority. She recognized the defeat of her coalition in Dakar.
The reply to Mrs. Touré did not take long on the opposition side. An official of the coalition led by the main opponent Ousmane Sonko, Barthélémy Dias, spoke of “vulgar lie” and “prefabricated majority”, on RFM private radio. “The people will answer, they will go down the street tomorrow and you will tell us how you got your majority. Cohabitation is inevitable. You have lost this election at the national level. We will not accept it. This forfeiture will not pass”, Added Mr. Dias, also mayor of Dakar, without giving figures.
a new parliament for five years
The opposition said they wanted to use these elections to impose cohabitation on President Sall, who hopes to keep a large majority. These legislative elections are a test after the local elections of January, won by the opposition in major cities of this West African country renowned for its stability, such as Dakar, Ziguinchor (South) and Thiès (West).
The legislative elections, in a single round, aim to renew for five years the 165 seats of the Monocameral Parliament largely controlled by the presidential camp. Macky Sall promised to appoint a Prime Minister – post he had deleted and then restored in December 2021 – within the victorious election training.
Some seven million Senegalese were called for this ballot which went without major incidents, whose participation was 22 % at the national level on Sunday at 1 p.m., according to the Ministry of the Interior. The National Autonomous Electoral Commission (CENA), which oversees the vote, has deployed some 22,000 observers. Experts from the Economic Community of West African States (Cédéao) and La Francophonie are also present.
a possible third term?
The opposition also wants to force Mr. Sall – who voted on Sunday morning in Fatick, 150 km south -east of Dakar – to give up any hint of candidacy in 2024. President Sall, elected in 2012 for seven years and re-elected in 2019 for five years, maintains the vagueness on its intentions at 19 months of the presidential election.
“If Macky Sall loses them (the legislative elections), he will no longer speak of 3 e mandate,” assured Mr. Sonko. The pre -campaign had been marked by violent demonstrations which had killed at least three people due to the invalidation by the Constitutional Council of holders of the national list of the coalition led by Mr. Sonko.
Several opposition figures, including Ousmane Sonko himself, were forced to give up participating in the elections, denouncing a charter of the president to dismiss his opponents. On June 29, the opposition had finally calmed the game by agreeing to participate in the ballot, which it hitherto threatened to prevent.