A coalition backing new Senegalese President Macky Sall was poised to win majority seats in parliament, according to provisional results reported by local media on Sunday after legislative elections in the west African country. Early counts reported by Senegal’s APS news agency showed that Sall’s Alliance for the Republic party (APR) and the Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition were leading in several constituencies across the country. Results on APS’s website showed that the leading coalition had won the vote in several major districts including Thies, Kaolack, St. Louis and the capital Dakar. Complete provisional results are expected by Tuesday.
The victory could enable Sall, 50, who won a presidential election against veteran leader Abdoulaye Wade in March, push on with much-needed economic reforms to boost employment and cut the cost of living for the poor, notably through food subsidies. Voters in Senegal went to the polls to elect 150 parliamentarians, 90 through direct suffrage while 60 will be chosen from national party lists. About 5 million of the West African nation’s 13 million population were eligible to vote.
Alain Diedhiou, 40, said he voted to give a majority to the president’s coalition to enable him to carry out his policies. “I want that tomorrow he will not have any excuse to give me or explain why he is not carrying out reforms or implementing his policies. That is the reason for my vote today,” Diedhiou said after voting in Dakar.
Full Article: Senegal’s Sall seen winning parliament vote | Reuters.
