The tour de force is historic. Ten days before the presidential election, on March 14, Bassirou Diomaye Faye was still a prisoner in the Cap Manuel prison on the southern outskirts of Dakar. On Tuesday, March 25, the day after the election and at the end of an unpredictable situation marked by a political and institutional crisis, a lightning electoral campaign and, finally, the recognition of his victory by his main opponent, here he is, a free man ready to take up residence in the Senegalese presidential palace for the next five years. At 44, he is the youngest head of state in the country's history, winning in the first round.

While the official results have not yet been published, the figures gleaned from a poll-by-poll basis give this anti-system candidate a lead that nobody saw coming. "In view of the trends in the results of the presidential election and pending the official proclamation, I congratulate President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye on his victory in the first round," former prime minister Amadou Ba said in a statement. This was followed shortly afterward by a congratulatory message from President Macky Sall on X. These words brought closure to a turbulent presidential election in which Senegal's democratic tradition was put to the test − but ultimately held firm. Although he presented his election as "the choice of a break with the past," the new president nonetheless placed "national reconciliation" among his "priority projects," in his first speech since announcing his victory on the evening of March 25.

For him, as for the Senegalese people who have just witnessed the unprecedented one-month postponement of the presidential election, nothing has gone according to plan. A year ago, who knew Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the number two of the Patriotes du Sénégal pour le Travail, l'Ethique et la Fraternité (PASTEF) party, the main opposition group dissolved by the authorities in July 2023? This discreet man first made headlines when he was arrested on April 14, 2023, following a Facebook post in which he denounced the "trampling" of the justice system, which led to his imprisonment for "undermining state security."

Eight months later, only his proximity to opposition leader Ousmane Sonko seemed to explain his appointment as a candidate for the former PASTEF. He was a "plan B" designed to compensate for his mentor's announced absence from the presidential race due to his judicial convictions. And he wasn't the only one to play the role of alternate candidate, as Sonko had also sent Cheikh Tidiane Dièye and Habib Sy to file their candidacies to make sure that his ideas would be represented. "Sonko's supporters chose Faye to respect the voting instructions, but not for what he is. He's a substitute candidate whose aim was to increase Ousmane Sonko's chances of being represented," said political scientist Aliou Ndiaye.

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