Senegal heads to polls with president confident of victory
DAKAR: Senegal goes to the polls Sunday in a presidential contest that incumbent Macky Sall, facing unusually few challengers in a country fond of vigorous political debate, is confident of winning in the first round.
His two biggest rivals – popular Dakar ex-mayor Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, the son of the previous president – were disqualified after being convicted of corruption in trials questioned by rights groups.
“Victory in the first round is indisputable,” a Macky Sall told a recent Dakar campaign rally.
Sall faces competition from four opposition rivals – lesser-known perhaps, but campaigning hard against the president’s plans for a second phase in a controversial infrastructure project called ‘Emerging Senegal.’
The giant scheme is Sall’s legacy, but critics deride it as a waste of taxpayers’ money, out of touch with needs – and a potential debt dinosaur if much-promised investment fails to emerge.
“If I am elected, I will throw his Senegal debt plan in the trash,” one of Sall’s election challengers, tax inspector-turned MP Ousman Sonko, has vowed.
Sall’s other three rivals are former prime minister Idrissa Seck, Issa Sall of the Unity and Assembly Party (PUR), and former justice and foreign minister Madicke Niang. The president is not related to either Khalifa or Issa Sall.
The five-horse race leaves voters with a limited choice compared to 2012, when 14 candidates vied for the top post, and 2007, when 15 battled it out. A new system approved by parliament last year despite opposition party resistance, requires candidates to demonstrate they have the support of a minimum number of citizens and regions.
Once the new regulations were applied, only seven candidates made the cut, two of whom were then disqualified.
“I can’t be bothered to deal with politics. May the best win and peace continue, we value our national stability,” he said, reflecting a commonly-voiced sentiment,” said shopkeeper Astou Fall of Bambey, in central west Senegal. — AFP