Senegal presidency winner says he is ‘break’ from establishment

Dakar, Senegal – – AFP

Anti-establishment candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who is set to become the youngest president ever in Senegal, has said that people chose to “break” with the current political system.

Faye’s main rival from the governing coalition, Amadou Ba, has already conceded the race, triggering a political earthquake in the West African nation.

It marked a stunning victory for the 44-year-old Faye, who was only freed from prison 10 days before Sunday’s election, whose results are not yet official.

He described himself in his first public address since Ba conceded as “the choice of a break” from the establishment.

One of his main priorities as president will be “national reconciliation” following three years of unrest and a political crisis, Faye said.

Faye also vowed to “fight corruption at every level”, rebuild institutions and tackle the cost of living crisis.

It is the first time in 12 presidential votes held under universal suffrage since Senegal gained independence from France in 1960 that an opposition candidate has won in the first round of voting.

Ba, 62, recognised Faye’s win and rang him to offer his congratulations.

Outgoing president Macky Sall, who did not stand after wins in 2012 and 2019, also congratulated him, hailing “a victory for Senegalese democracy”.

– ‘Hungry for change’ –

Faye has promised left-wing pan-Africanism and to renegotiate gas and oil contracts, with Senegal due to start production on recently discovered oil and gas reserves later this year.

The opposition candidate has never held a nationally elected position before.

The United States echoed Sall in hailing a triumph of democracy in Senegal.

“The commitment of the Senegalese people to the democratic process is part of the foundation of our deep friendship and strong bilateral ties,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Faye on his victory, and said he looked forward to working with him.

El Hadji Mamadou Mbaye, a political science lecturer and researcher at the University of Saint-Louis, told AFP that “people are hungry for change when you see what is happening in this country in terms of corruption, non-respect of the law”.

The person who most embodied the longed-for change was Ousmane Sonko, Mbaye added, referring to the firebrand opposition figurehead who was barred from running in the election but endorsed Faye as his replacement.

Faye had appeared clearly ahead of former prime minister Ba, according to provisional results from individual polling stations published by local media and on social networks.

Official results are expected before the end of the week. An absolute majority was required for a first-round win.

“It’s a total revolution. Everything is going to change. Behaviourally, socially and financially, everything is going to change,” Coumba Diallo, a singer known as Queen Biz, enthused.

At least 10 of the 17 presidential candidates earlier on Monday had congratulated Faye in light of provisional results published by the media.