Senegal readies for Sunday poll despite political tensions

All is set ahead of the delayed presidential election in Senegal slated for Sunday, as political tensions remain high after President Macky Sall failed in his bid to postpone the process.

The ruling coalition is hoping to remain in power as the party put forward a former prime minister and finance minister, Amadou Ba, as its candidate.

He is expected to continue Senegal’s investor-friendly policies as it prepares to become an oil and gas producer by the end of 2024.

Mr. Bá will be facing 18 opposition candidates, the most prominent being 43-year-old former tax inspector Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who has been anointed by the firebrand opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.

Both Sonko and Faye were released from jail on March 14 due to an amnesty proposed by Sall after months in detention.

Other politicians in the race include Khalifa Sall, a former mayor of the capital Dakar, and veteran politician Idrissa Seck, who came in second in the 2019 election with 21% of the vote.

Reports say at least 7.3 million people are registered to vote among Senegal’s nearly 17 million, more than 60% of whom are under 25.

Recall that the election in Senegal, which was originally slated for February 25, was abruptly postponed by President Sall on February 3, just hours before campaigning was meant to begin.

He highlighted the danger resulting from disagreements over the candidate list as the basis for the postponement.

The decision sparked a wave of unrest, prompting the country’s top constitutional authority, the Constitutional Council, to reject efforts to postpone the vote and extend Sall’s mandate until April 2.