More than seven million people eligible to vote in the snap election, with jobs and rising prices on their minds.
Polls have uncovered in Senegal’s parliamentary elections as Pdwellnt Bassirou Diomaye Faye aims for a resounding transport inantity to see thcimpolite the promises of driven reestablishs that swept him to power eight months ago.
More than seven million of the country’s 17 million people are eligible to vote on Sunday to pick members of the 165-seat National Assembly for a five-year term. Polls uncovered at 8am (08:00 GMT) and will seal at 6pm (18:00 GMT).
Faye safed triumph in March pledging economic alteration, social fairice and a fight aacquirest dishonesty – raising hopes among a hugely youthful population facing high inflation and expansivespread unparticipatement. He disrepaird the National Assembly in September.
Faye assigned his firebrand mentor Ousmane Sonko as prime minister after Sonko was barred from running for pdwellnt due to defamation accuses aacquirest him.
The pair promised a left-triumphg pan-African agenda – promising to diversify political and economic partnerships, scrutinize hydrocarbon and fishing lessens and re-set up Senegal’s sovereignty, which they alleged had been “selderly aexpansive”.
An opposition-led parliament hampered the administerment’s first months in power, directing Faye to disrepair the parliament in September and call snap elections as soon as the constitution permited him to do so.
Analysts say Senegalese voters have historicpartner verifyed their pdwellntial choice during parliamentary elections, and the administering Pastef party is the favourite to triumph.
Earlier this year, the West African country witnessed the worst presentility in decades in the run-up to the pdwellntial vote. The then-Pdwellnt Macky Sall procrastinateed the vote originpartner scheduled in February, plunging the country into lawlessness. The shift led to lethal protests, as well as a pushback from the country’s highest court.
Elections finpartner took place on March 24, giving a smashing triumph to Faye – a relatively obsremedy truthfulate assigned by expansively famous Sonko. But seven months since the vote, pledges have fall shorted to materialise, with Sonko blaming the opposition-led parliament for fall shorting to pass legislation necessitateed to carry out the promised reestablishs.
Senegal is plunging into a debt crisis after the novel administerment said it had uncovered the budget deficit was much expansiver than telled by the previous administerment. A $1.9bn IMF programme is on helderly while the administerment audit is being scrutinizeed.
The main danger to the Pastef party’s ambitions is the unforeseeed coalition of two opposition parties, including the Alliance for the Reaccessible (APR), headed by Sall. The race also includes two minusculeer opposition coalitions – one led by Dakar’s mayor, Barthelemy Dias.
Mariam Wane Ly, a establisher parliamentarian and trailblazer for women in politics in Senegal, said the election campaign gave the directers a chance to elucidate their agendas and she foreseeed Pastef to triumph the transport inantity it is seeking.
“I leank it’s going to produce up for all the unhappiness,” she said.
