Jubilation as Youngest Opposition Candidate Set to Become Senegal's President

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26 Mar 2024

Before receiving the backing of Ousmane Sonko, the most powerful opposition politician in Senegal, Bacsour Diomaye Faye, 44, was barely known. It had just been ten days since both men were released from jail.

Only ten days after being freed from prison, a young political outsider supported by a prominent opposition figure emerged victorious in Senegal's presidential election, shocking everyone with the concession of his chief challenger. The chosen candidate of Ousmane Sonko, the well-liked but contentious opposition leader from Senegal, is Bacsour Diomaye Faye. Amadou Ba, the governing party's principal opponent of Mr. Faye, conceded in a statement on Monday and congratulated his opponent on winning the first round.
Mr. Faye, who celebrated his 44th birthday on Monday, will become the West African country’s youngest-ever president, and the youngest elected president currently serving in Africa. (There are younger leaders, but they came to power by force.) He had been jailed on charges of defamation and contempt of court and was awaiting trial.
"I hope he succeeds greatly, for the benefit of the Senegalese people," Mr. Ba said in a statement addressing Mr. Faye's election as president that was made public on Monday afternoon.
Although the results have not yet been made public by the National Electoral Commission, Mr. Ba's concession came after local media reported that Mr. Faye had secured over 50% of the vote, eliminating the need for a runoff.
With their criticism of political elites, promises to renegotiate contracts with oil and gas corporations, and claims of "monetary sovereignty," Mr. Faye and Mr. Sonko have captured the attention of young people. Senegal is one of 14 nations that use the CFA, a currency backed by France and pegged to the euro.
Macky Sall, the president of Senegal, supported Mr. Ba, who resigned from his position as prime minister to run for office. After serving two terms, Mr. Sall remained silent for years about whether he would run for office a third time. When he abruptly called off the election, which was scheduled for February, and then, almost as abruptly, altered his plans, he sent the nation into a state of upheaval.
Mr. Sall praised Mr. Faye on Monday as well, calling the peaceful election a "victory for Senegalese democracy"—a democracy that the departing president's opponents had charged him of attempting to undermine.
With a population of 17 million, Senegal is predominantly a Muslim nation that has experienced peaceful handovers of power ever since it broke away from France in 1960.

Mr Faye after casting his ballot at the École Ndiandiaye polling station in Ndiaganiao, Senegal, on Sunday.

Senegalese capital Dakar's citizens started rejoicing at eight o'clock on Sunday night, even before many polling places had had a chance to check the votes in their boxes. People rushed into the streets while dancing, waving flags, and piling into cars and motorcycles. They also let out loud horns and yelled, "Get out, Amadou Ba!" while they did so.
And at midnight, admirers started singing "Happy Birthday" to Mr. Faye, who had only recently emerged from obscurity to become president.
However, Mr Faye wasn't the sole victor. Many of the Senegalese votings for him did so only as a stand-in for Mr. Sonko, a 49-year-old fiery orator who was jailed and unable to run again, and who chose Mr. Faye to run in his place.
After accusing magistrates of harassing Mr Sonko, who was found guilty of defamation and, separately, of corrupting a minor after he was accused of raping a young massage parlour employee, Mr Faye, a former tax collector, was placed in jail on charges of defamation and contempt of court.
A vote for Mr Faye, who is popularly known as Diomaye, was a vote for Mr Sonko, as he has been keen to stress.
Numerous posters featuring the youthful, radiant faces of the two men said, "Diomaye is Sonko."

The styles of the two men are considerably dissimilar. Some who know Mr. Faye claim he is serious and soft-spoken, in contrast to Mr. Sonko's bombast. He has two wives, is an avid soccer player, and was raised in a village close to Mbour. He spent fifteen years employed with Senegal's government service.
According to Babacar Ndiaye, a political analyst of the West Africa Think Tank, "many young Senegalese identify with him." He claimed that Mr Faye had put in a lot of work on the political platform of the party and had developed a solid reputation for morality and diligence. When Mr. Sonko chose him to be the presidential candidate in his place, Mr. Ndiaye said, “Everyone thought it was the right choice.”
Mr. Faye has promised to restructure land ownership, lessen the president's authority, and increase the independence of the court. In addition, he declared that he would "change the CFA," or the regional currency; however, it remains unclear if he and Mr. Sonko plan to replace it or modify it.
With many voters arriving early at polling places and silently lining up to cast their ballots, election Sunday unfolded pleasantly.
It was a far cry from the preceding two months when it was frequently uncertain if the poll would ever be conducted.
The nation was taken aback when Mr. Sall abruptly put off the election in early February, citing corruption charges that required examination by the constitutional council, the highest court in the nation.
Then the police stormed Parliament, ejecting opposition MPs to make room for legislation endorsing Mr Sall's decision. The election for president was rescheduled for December.
Amidst the ensuing clamour, Mr Sall made a U-turn after the constitutional council declared the delay to be illegal. In addition to agreeing to hold the election swiftly, he also freed Mr. Sonko and Mr. Faye from custody, giving them a hurried 10-day campaign.
The turn of events was interpreted by many as evidence of Senegal's democracy's tenacity in spite of its challenging geographic location. Recent coups have occurred in a number of West African nations, including Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali. Senegal, on the other hand, has been hailed as an outpost of democracy and relative political stability.

Supporters of Mr Faye burning a shirt bearing the picture of Amadou Ba in Dakar, on Sunday.

One by one, from Sunday night to Monday, the opposition contenders conceded and congratulated Mr. Faye.
By criticizing Senegal's political elites and drawing attention to the nebulous but contentious concept of "sovereignty," Mr Sonko has greatly expanded his fan base over the previous five years. He has also targeted the country's youthful demographic, with half of its citizens being under the age of 19.
And the young people have answered. Numerous people have demonstrated in favour of Mr Sonko in the streets, with many of them dying at the hands of the police.
Youth have persisted in endorsing what many refer to as “the project” – Mr Faye and Mr Sonko’s blueprint for the nation — despite the crackdowns.
"I am aware that a lot of things will change as a result of the project," stated 27-year-old motorbike taxi driver Abalaye Diop on Monday afternoon in the bustling Dakar suburb of Medina. "It won't have the same power as Macky Sall."

At first, Mr. Ba's team argued that a runoff would be the most likely outcome. But by Monday afternoon, he had conceded and wished Mr Faye would have the "strength and energy needed" to finish the task. He repeated some of Mr. Sonko's remarks during a briefing shortly after his release from custody.
"There will be many challenges once we are in power," he stated. "We owe people a lot, and they will demand a lot from us."