Observers sent to Senegal by the European Union and West Africa on Tuesday praised the smooth running of the presidential election, which the opposition won after three years of unrest.
Some 7.3 million Senegalese are eligible to vote on Sunday, and 44-year-old Bashir Diomaie Faye will vote in the country after his main rival and government candidate, Amadou Ba, conceded defeat. He was elected the youngest president in history.
“The vote generally went smoothly and took place in an almost peaceful atmosphere,” Ibrahim Gambari, head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) mission, said at a news conference in Dakar.
At a separate conference, EU head of delegation Malin Björk praised the “well-organized open elections that demonstrate the strength of Senegal's democratic institutions.”
“Overall, the elections were well organized. Voters were able to make their choices freely in a peaceful and orderly atmosphere,” he added.
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ECOWAS sent 130 observers and the EU sent another 100.
Senegal is traditionally seen as a bastion of stability in coup-ridden West Africa and is a central figure in the ECOWAS bloc.
Official preliminary results are expected to be announced this week, but Fay's race opponent and outgoing President Macky Sall have already conceded Fay's victory.
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Since 2021, dozens of people have been killed and hundreds arrested in various riots caused in part by the conflict between the state and opposition leader Ousmane Sonko. Ousmane Sonko supported Faye's candidacy after being barred from the race.
Sall's postponement of the presidential election, originally scheduled for February 25, plunged Senegal into its worst political crisis in decades, leaving four people dead.
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