Senegal's governing coalition candidate Amadou Ba on Monday recognized a win by anti-establishment candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye in the first round of presidential elections and offered his congratulations, a statement said.
"Considering the trends of the presidential election results and awaiting the official declaration, I congratulate the president Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye on his victory in the first round," Ba said in the statement.
Opposition figure Faye promised voters profound change and a presidential policy platform of left-wing pan-Africanism. He appeared clearly ahead of the governing coalition's former prime minister, Ba, according to provisional results from individual polling stations published by local media and on social networks. Newspapers proclaimed Faye the winner on their front pages.
Faye's victory could herald a systemic overhaul in Senegal. The anti-establishment figure has pledged to restore national "sovereignty", fight corruption and distribute wealth more equitably. He has also promised to renegotiate mining, gas and oil contracts signed with foreign companies, with Senegal due to start hydrocarbon production later this year.
"I remain confident about the choice for the change that I am able to embody better than any other candidate," Faye said as he voted Sunday.
Ba pitched himself as the continuity candidate for outgoing President Macky Sall. Both contenders presented themselves as the best candidate for young people in a country where half the population is under 20.
Senegal was originally due to vote on February 25, but an 11th-hour postponement by Sall triggered the worst political crisis in decades and violence that left four dead. Around 7.3 million Senegalese were eligible to cast their ballot.
Hundreds of observers from civil society, the African Union, the ECOWAS regional group and the European Union were on hand. The head of the EU observer mission, Malin Bjork, said voting had taken place "calmly, efficiently and (in a) very orderly manner."
Opposition figurehead Ousmane Sonko – who was barred from standing due to a defamation conviction – said young people had "massively" turned out to vote. "We are convinced that at the end of this day the victory will be dazzling," Sonko said, referring to Faye, his deputy and endorsed candidate, while voting in his southern stronghold of Ziguinchor.
Both Sonko – who came third in the 2019 presidential vote – and Faye were released from prison on March 14 under a rapidly passed amnesty law. After weeks of confusion, Senegal's top constitutional body overruled Sall's attempt to delay the vote until December and forced him to reset the date to March 24, resulting in a rushed campaign that clashed with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.