Parliamentary elections were held in
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠ðž ...
on 30 July 2017,
having originally been planned for 2 July.
[
]
Background
The original election date was chosen on 1 December 2016 after a meeting between the President of Senegal Macky Sall
Macky Sall (, wo, Maki Sà ll, fuc, 𞤃𞤢𞤳𞤠𞤅𞤢𞤤‎, italic=no, Maki Sal; born 11 December 1961) is a Senegalese politician who has been President of Senegal since April 2012. He was re-elected President in the first round voti ...
and the Opposition in the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
.
The coalition of parties supporting President Sall, Benno Bokk Yaakaar, sought to retain the parliamentary majority it obtained in the 2012 parliamentary election. It included Sall's party, the Alliance for the Republic, as well as the Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
and the Alliance of the Forces of Progress.[ The coalition's national candidate list was headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Dionne.][
Plans for a united opposition coalition that would incorporate the ]Senegalese Democratic Party
The Senegalese Democratic Party (french: Parti démocratique sénégalais) is a political party in Senegal. The party considers itself a liberal party and is a member of the Liberal International. Abdoulaye Wade, who was President of Senegal from ...
of Abdoulaye Wade
Abdoulaye Wade (born 29 May 1926)
Encyclopedia of the Nations. Retrieved February 28, ...
as well as the supporters of imprisoned Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...
Mayor Khalifa Sall
Khalifa Ababacar Sall (born 1 January 1956) is a Senegalese politician. He is a former government minister and a former mayor of Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List o ...
were ultimately scuttled in late May 2017 because the two sides could not agree on who should head the coalition's candidate list. Consequently the two sides decided to stand separately, with Wade and Khalifa Sall each heading their respective lists. The opposition's failure to unite was viewed as a boon for President Sall, making it appear more likely that he would keep his parliamentary majority; if his supporters lost, he would be forced into cohabitation
Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...
for the remaining two years of his term, greatly curtailing his powers.
Electoral system
The 165 members of the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
are elected by two methods; 90 are elected by either first-past-the-post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
or party bloc vote in 35 single- or multi-member constituencies based on the 35 departments, with an additional 15 elected by overseas voters.[ The other 60 seats are elected from a nationwide constituency by proportional representation, with seats allocated initially using the simple quotient, with remaining seats allocated using the ]largest remainder method
The largest remainder method (also known as Hare–Niemeyer method, Hamilton method or as Vinton's method) is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. It contrasts with various h ...
.
Campaign
The official campaign period began on 8 July. Wade, who had been living in France, returned to Dakar on 10 July to begin campaigning for his coalition, Manko Wattu Sénégal
The Manko Wattu Sénégal coalition is a group of several political parties organised to contest the 2017 Senegalese legislative elections. The coalition was organised and principally led by the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) of former Presiden ...
. A record number of parties, 47, contested the elections.["Sénégal : les électeurs dans l’attente des résultats des législatives"]
''Jeune Afrique'', 31 July 2017 (in French)
Results
Voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
was reported to be 54%.[ Prime Minister Dionne, speaking on 31 July, said that the pro-Sall ''Benno Bokk Yaakaar'' coalition had prevailed in 42 out of the 45 ]departments of Senegal
The 14 regions of Senegal are subdivided into 46 departments and 103 arrondissements (neither of which have administrative function) and by ''collectivités locales'' (the 14 ''régions'', 110 ''communes'', and 320 ''communautés rurales'') which ...
(all but Kédougou
Kédougou ( Wolof: Keédugu) is a town in the Kédougou Region of south-eastern Senegal near the border with Mali and Guinea. It lies at an elevation of above sea level.
Founded in the early 20th century by the Malinké people, Kédougou means ...
, Saraya and "probably" Mbacké
Mbacké (Mbà kke in Wolof) is a city in central Senegal, located east of Dakar. It is the capital of an administrative department in the Diourbel region. Along with the nearby city of Touba, Mbacké forms an urban conurbation whose population ...
). The opposition coalition led by Khalifa Sall, however, said that it had won in Dakar, the capital. Results for Dakar released on 3 August showed ''Benno Bokk Yaakaar'' slightly ahead of Khalifa Sall's coalition, Manko Taxawu Sénégal.
Provisional results released on 4 August showed ''Benno Bokk Yaakaar'' winning 125 out of 165 seats, a strong majority. The two main opposition coalitions trailed distantly; Manko Wattu Sénégal (led by Wade) obtained 19 seats and Manko Taxawu Sénégal (led by Khalifa Sall) obtained seven seats.["Sénégal : la majorité présidentielle remporte haut la main les législatives"]
Agence France-Presse, 5 August 2017 . The presidential coalition was slightly short of a majority in the vote count, receiving 49.5% of the votes.[
]
Aftermath
Following the victory of Benno Bokk Yaakaar, President Sall reappointed Dionne as Prime Minister on 6 September 2017. Abdoulaye Wade, elected to the National Assembly as the top candidate on his coalition's candidate list, announced his resignation as a Deputy on 10 September, before the National Assembly even began meeting. He explained that his purpose in running was merely to support his coalition in the election."Sénégal : Abdoulaye Wade démissionne de son poste de député à l’Assemblée Nationale"
''Jeune Afrique'', 11 September 2017 .
References
{{Senegalese elections
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠ðž ...
2017 in Senegal
Elections in Senegal
July 2017 events in Africa