There have been celebrations and congratulations in Senegal for anti establishment candidate Bassirou diamaye Faye who looks set to have won Sunday’s presidential election.
Despite a rocky run up to the March 24th vote that featured a last minute postponement to the original February 25th date, protests, a reversal by the constitutional court and serious concerns about the state of senegal’s democratic institutions, the country looks set for another peaceful, straightforward handover of power as the ruling coalition’s candidate and president Macky Sall have already commended Diomaye Faye on his apparent win.
Faye, takes over long serving Macky Sall who had attempted to delay the election until he was thwarted by the courts.
Born in 1980, the President elect will be Senegal’s fifth elected President. After being imprisoned for 11 months by incumbent Sall, the 44 year old was recently released from prison. He was the chosen successor to the adored Sonko who was disqualified from running for office.