Opposition Activist Gets Out Of Prison, Wins Election In Senegal

Bassirou Diomaye Faye has won the election 10 days after his release.

The main opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who turned 44 on March 25, has become the new president of Senegal following the results of the elections on March 24, RBC writes.

And although Senegal's General Directorate of Elections did not publish even interim results (it will publish official results within a week - on Friday, March 29), international media have already reported on Faye's victory.

The oppositionist was congratulated on his victory by his main rival, with whom Faye was expected to fight in the second round - 62-year-old candidate from the coalition of current President Macky Sall, Prime Minister of the country from 2022 to 2024 Amadou Ba. He left his post as prime minister in early March to run.

"I implore the Almighty to grant him the energy and strength needed to serve in this high office at the helm of our country. I wish him great success and success for the good of the Senegalese people," Ba wrote on the X social network.

Faye was also congratulated on his victory by Macky Sall, whose term expires on April 2. "I welcome the smooth conduct of the presidential election of March 24, 2024 and congratulate Mr Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who appears to be the winner," he wrote on the X social network. "This is a victory for Senegalese democracy."

Faye, a former tax inspector, is the candidate of the non-systemic opposition and has called in his programme for a so-called purification of the country's political class.

His other proposals include getting rid of the CFA franc (a monetary unit introduced in 1945 in the then French colonies in West and Equatorial Africa), introducing a new currency and extending English-language teaching.

He entered the campaign ten days before the election when he was released from prison on March 14 under an amnesty that Macky Sall announced on March 7 for all those arrested at political rallies between 2021 and 2024.

Ousmane Sonko, also a former tax inspector, was released from prison at the same time - the main opposition figure who founded the party African Patriots of Senegal for Labour, Ethics and Fraternity in 2014.

Initially, Sonko was to run for election.

In 2021, he was accused of underage rape; the charge was dropped in 2023, but he was soon arrested and convicted of preparing a rebellion, and the PASTEF party was liquidated.

Faye was also taken into custody in April - he was charged with libel and disrespect of court after he criticised Sonko's prosecution. He was later charged with sedition and undermining state security.

After it became clear that the PASTEF leader would not be allowed to participate in the election, the opposition nominated Faye - Sonko urged people to vote for him.

"No one can say he is dishonest. I would even say he is more honest than me. I trust the project in his hands," Sonko said in an appeal to voters. Both politicians were on campaign posters and the slogan on them was "Diomaye is Sonko."

Senegalese media assessed that it was this support that was crucial to Faye's election.