Senegal's president fights for mandate in parliamentary race

30/10/2024 18:58

        With fireworks displays, packed rallies, and town-to-town caravans, Senegalese political parties are wooing voters in a parliamentary race that will decide the extent to which the new president will be able to implement his agenda.
        
        President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has been under pressure to make good on promises to crack down on corruption and improve livelihoods that helped sweep him to power in April following a landslide election victory the previous month.
        
        Faye has accused lawmakers in the opposition-led national assembly of refusing to engage in meaningful talks on the budget and other proposals and dissolved parliament last month, paving the way for the legislative election on Nov. 17.
        
        Campaigning officially kicked off on Sunday. Faye's Pastef party is competing for a majority that would secure his mandate, but former ruling parties have formed a rival coalition that unites the country's influential ex-presidents Macky Sall and Abdoulaye Wade.
        
        "This election has symbolic significance," said political analyst Mamadou Seck. "The critical challenge today is for Diomaye Faye to understand whether the people who elected him with 54% still support his programme."