Although N’Dour has only an outside chance of winning, the answer is yes he does – for at least two reasons. As N’Dour himself points out, his entry into the Feb. 26 race will guarantee a degree of international media exposure that the election otherwise would not have had. That may in turn mean there will be closer scrutiny of the kind of irregularities in voting procedures that have been a feature of recent African elections. Put simply, it will be harder for anyone to rig the poll.
N’Dour’s popularity means he could emerge with a respectable score despite the reluctance of many Senegalese to back a candidate seen as having little formal education and associated with the ”griot” caste linked to music, poetry and the oral tradition. The question then is whose votes will he take. If those votes come at the expense of incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade, that could upset Wade’s stated aim of securing a victory in the first round and push him into an unpredictable head-to-head whoever emerges as his closest rival. If one the other hand he cannibalises the vote of other candidates such as Idrissa Seck or Macky Sall, that will not help the already fragmented opposition to Wade.
Reuters Interview with Youssou N’Dour: Does Youssou N’Dour change the stakes in Senegal’s election? | Africa News blog.