AP — DAKAR, Senegal Sunday's legislative elections in Senegal are crucial for opposition parties hoping to limit the dominance of the ruling party ahead of the 2024 presidential election amid concerns that President Macky Sall would run for a third term.
In a politically charged environment in the West African nation, almost 7 million voters will have the opportunity to choose 165 representatives for the National Assembly.
Last year, after Sall's primary rival Ousmane Sonko was detained on rape accusations, violent protests broke out, leading to the deaths of over a dozen individuals. Sonko, who finished third in the 2019 election, rejects the accusations, and the president is opposed by many of his fans.
He and another of Sall's main rivals were disqualified from running this year, which caused more intense outrage and protests that resulted in three fatalities in June.
Senegal, home to 17 million people, is renowned for its stability in a region where three nations have seen coups since 2020 and where leaders have modified laws to secure third terms in office.
The outcome of the election on Sunday will be more indicative of what might occur in 2024.“For (the ruling party), it is a question of doing everything to maintain an absolute majority in the National Assembly in order to be able to govern quietly until 2024 … and guarding the possibility of passing certain laws to prepare for all eventualities at the end of Sall’s second term,” said Mame Ngor Ngom, a political analyst.
Even though Sonko’s candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Council, he has organized opposition supporters across Senegal.
A victory for the opposition “would be synonymous with the rejection of a possible third candidacy for Sall and a probable victory in the next presidential election,” Ngom said.
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Sall’s Benno Bokk Yakaar ruling party currently holds 75% of the legislature's seats.
Serigne Thiam, a political science expert at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, says the opposition is pushing the subject of a possible third term over other issues.
“If the opposition wins, the president will no longer be able to think of a third term. On the other hand, if the ruling power wins the ballot, its supporters can push the president towards a third term,” he warns.
Sall hasn’t talked about a third term but has promised to speak Monday, the day after the election.
Dissatisfaction with Sall has risen as possible adversaries — including the popular former mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall, and ex-president Abdoulaye Wade's son Karim Wade — have been targeted by the judiciary and disqualified from running for office. Many accuse Sall of using his power to eliminate opponents.
Anger has also grown amid economic worries as prices for fuel and food have skyrocketed due to the war in Ukraine.
Senegal's former prime minister and head of the ruling party, Aminata Touré, appealed to the country's youth to vote.
“The youth must participate massively in the vote in thanks to the President Macky Sall for the extraordinary work he has done for Senegal,” he declared in Kédougou in the southeast.
Interior Minister Antoine Félix Abdoulaye Diom toured polling stations around the country and declared that all the arrangements had been made for a smooth vote, despite floods in the past few weeks.
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