The opposition in Senegal has demanded that the announcement of the results of the legislative elections held on Sunday be postponed while it investigates its claims of “irregularities” and “fraud.”
After Sunday’s vote to renew the 165 seats in the National Assembly, which is predominately controlled by the presidential coalition, both the government and opposition camps are proclaiming success.
The opposition inter-coalition requests that the National Commission for the Census of Votes’ president postpone the publication of the results, which was scheduled to take place this Thursday at 5 p.m. We can even review the results poll by poll in a public session so that the Senegalese people can join us in identifying the unacceptable irregularities. At a news conference, Déthié Fall, a member of the opposition, remarked.
“This attempt to steal the vote will not be tolerated. Another opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, spoke at the briefing. “A man must know how to be great at a certain moment, and that is why I appeal to President Macky Sall,” he said.
The opposition had anticipated that Sall would be forced into cohabitation, or a divided administration, and that this would put a stop to any third-term aspirations he might have had.
The last polls before the 2024 presidential elections served as a crucial litmus test for Sall after the opposition triumphed in key cities during the January municipal elections, including the capital Dakar, Ziguinchor in the south, and Thies in the west.
On Sunday night, Toure claimed to have won 30 of the country’s 46 departments as well as international constituencies.
Despite conceding her coalition’s loss in Dakar, she added, “This surely gives us a majority in the National Assembly.”
However, the main opposition coalition responded to Toure’s comments with “astonishment,” asserting that it had gained a “comfortable majority” and that the presidential campaign was “trying to once again confiscate the vote” despite having won the election.
The opposition issued a statement on Monday saying, “We call on national and world opinion to stand as witnesses against any attempt to rig the results.”
Before the election, Wallu Senegal (“Save Senegal”), led by the former president Abdoulaye Wade, allied with Yewwi Askan Wi (“Liberate the People,” in Wolof, one of Senegal’s national languages), the main opposition coalition. Ousmane Sonko, who finished third in the 2019 presidential election, is the leader of Yewwi Askan Wi.
The two sides concurred to cooperate in order to “force governmental cohabitation” and win a legislative majority.
The President of the Republic Macky Sall lost the elections, according to the provisional results of the parliamentary elections, and he would not hold a majority in the National Assembly, Wallu Senegal reported on Monday.
Additionally, the alliance claimed that significant politicians, including the late former prime minister Toure, had been attacked.
The main opposition coalition may have gained ground, particularly in urban areas, according to early indications, which are preliminary total results that must be released no later than Friday, according to local media.
The 165 seats in the single-chamber parliament, which is now governed by the president’s supporters, will be decided in a single voting session for the duration of the next five years.
Sall has pledged to name a prime minister from the winning side, a position he first abolished and then reinstated in December 2021.
Seven million Senegalese had the right to vote in the election, which went through without a hitch.
According to AFP correspondents and onlookers, voter turnout at certain polling places looked to be quite low, while the interior ministry reported a participation percentage of 47%.
A retired soldier named Yahya Sall expressed his hope that “a significant opposition presence…will be present in the new parliament to enhance democracy.”
53 parliamentarians are chosen from national lists under a proportional representation system, and the remaining 97 are chosen by majority vote in the departments of the nation.
The final 15 members of parliament are chosen by the diaspora.
Prices were on the rise at the time of the voting, in part because of the conflict in Ukraine.
The administration has emphasized its subsidies for food and oil items as well as the development of infrastructure, while the opposition has questioned the government’s goals.
Sall, 60, was first elected in 2012 for seven years, and then he was re-elected in 2019 for a further five. He has been charged with wanting to run again in 2024 despite the two-term restriction.
He has been evasive on the subject, but his supporters losing the election on Sunday could derail his plans.
The 21-day election campaign went off without much incident.
However, during the pre-campaign period, there were violent protests that resulted in at least three fatalities after Sonko and other key opposition coalition members were prohibited from attending.
The opposition agreed to participate in the polls, which it had threatened to boycott, on June 29, reducing tensions.
