Senegal’s Ruling Party Secures Majority in Parliament, Paving the Way for Ambitious Reforms

By BABACAR DIONE and MONIKA PRONCZUK

2:11 PM EST, November 21, 2024

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal’s ruling party, PASTEF, secured a resounding victory in the country’s legislative elections, winning 130 of 165 seats, according to provisional results announced Thursday by the national vote counting commission.

The win grants newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye a clear mandate to carry out ambitious reforms promised during the campaign, which include fighting corruption, revamping the fishing industry, and maximizing the country’s natural resource benefits.

The main opposition coalition led by the former President Macky Sall won 16 seats. Sall congratulated PASTEF in a post on X on the election day, and two other major opposition leaders had already conceded defeat hours after the polls closed on Sunday.

The results will now have to be confirmed by the constitutional council, which is expected to do so in the coming week.

Before Sunday’s legislative election, PASTEF only held 56 seats in the National Assembly while Sall’s coalition had a slim majority of 83 seats.

Faye, who was elected in March on an anti-establishment platform, said the lack of a majority had prevented him from executing reforms he pledged during his presidential campaign.

In September, he dissolved the opposition-led parliament, paving the way for an early legislative election.

Voting in the West African nation known for its stability was calm and peaceful despite an electoral campaign that was marked by sporadic clashes between rival supporters. Observers from the international community, including the African Union and ECOWAS, praised the smooth voting process and the maturity of Senegalese democracy.

Faye, 44, became Africa’s youngest elected leader in March, less than two weeks after he was released from prison. The former tax inspector’s rise has reflected widespread frustration among Senegal’s youth with the country’s direction — a common sentiment across Africa, which has the world’s youngest population and a number of leaders accused of clinging to power for decades.

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Associated Press writer Babacar Fall contributed reporting from Dakar, Senegal.

MONIKA PRONCZUK

Pronczuk covers 22 countries across Central and West Africa for The Associated Press. She is based in Dakar, Senegal.