Senegalese Presidential Election, 2007
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Presidential elections were held in
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
on 25 February 2007. Incumbent president
Abdoulaye Wade Abdoulaye Wade (, ; born 29 May 1926) is a Senegalese politician who served as the third president of Senegal from 2000 to 2012. He is also the Secretary-General of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), having led the party since it was founded ...
was re-elected in the first round with almost 56% of the vote.Diadie Ba
"Senegal's Wade re-elected, warns opposition"
, Reuters (''Mail & Guardian Online''), 2 March 2007.
"Le texte intégral de la décision du Conseil constitutionnel"
Agence de Presse Sénégalaise (Seneweb.com), 11 March 2007 .


Background

Wade announced the date for the election on 13 April 2006. The election campaign officially began on 4 February 2007. Soldiers voted early on 17 February and 18 February; this was the first time in the country's history that soldiers were allowed to vote. Had a run-off been necessary, it would have been held on 18 March 2007. A
parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
was initially intended to be held on 25 February as well, but it was delayed to 3 June 2007.


Candidates

15 candidates ran for President, including Wade."La 1ère journée de campagne électorale peu animée au Sénégal"
African Press Agency, 4 February 2007 .
Wade was nominated as the presidential candidate of his party, the
Senegalese Democratic Party The Senegalese Democratic Party () 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 2000 to 2012, is the party's leader. T ...
(PDS), on 15 October 2006.
Idrissa Seck Idrissa Seck (born 9 August 1959) is a Senegalese politician who was Prime Minister of Senegal from November 2002 to July 2004. He was a leading member of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) and was considered a protégé of President Abdoula ...
, a former Prime Minister who was once considered Wade's protégé, also ran. Seck announced his candidacy for President in April 2006; he had been arrested in 2005 on charges of embezzlement and threatening state security but never faced a trial and was eventually released in February 2006. On January 22, 2007, Wade said that Seck had agreed to return to the ruling PDS; Seck subsequently confirmed this, but said that he would remain a presidential candidate. If he had withdrawn his candidacy, the law would have required that the election be delayed, but shortly afterwards the National Assembly voted to change the law so that a delay would not be necessary in the event of a candidate's withdrawal.
Ousmane Tanor Dieng Ousmane Tanor Dieng (January 2, 1947 – July 15, 2019) was the First Secretary of the Socialist Party of Senegal. He was vice-president of the Socialist International from 1996 until his death. Personal life Born in 1947 in Nguéniène, Seneg ...
ran as the candidate of the former ruling
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 ...
(PS). Former Prime Minister
Moustapha Niasse Moustapha Niasse (born 4 November 1939
.
) is a
ran as the candidate of a coalition of opposition parties, including his own Alliance of the Forces of Progress (AFP). Other candidates included
Abdoulaye Bathily Abdoulaye Bathily (born 1947) is a Senegalese politician and diplomat. Bathily, the long-time Secretary-General of the Democratic League/Movement for the Labour Party (LD/MPT),Democratic League/Movement for the Labour Party (LD/MPT),"Abdoulaye Bathily, un ancien allié de Wade à l’assaut du pouvoir"
African Press Agency, 5 February 2007 .
Landing Savané Landing Savané (born January 10, 1945
, a Minister of State and the Secretary-General of
And-Jëf/African Party for Democracy and Socialism The And-Jëf/African Party for Democracy and Socialism (''And-Jëf/Parti Africain pour la démocratie et le socialisme'') is a socialist political party in Senegal led by Landing Savané. And-Jëf/PADS was founded in 1991, through the merger of ...
(AJ/PADS),"Un allié de Me Wade candidat à la présidentielle de février 2007"
African Press Agency, 13 November 2006 .
Ziguinchor Ziguinchor (; ; ) is the capital of the Ziguinchor Region, and the chief town of the Casamance area of Senegal, lying at the mouth of the Casamance River. It has a population of 214,874 (2023 census). It is the eighth largest city of Senegal ...
Mayor
Robert Sagna Robert Sagna (born April 17, 1939Decision of the Constituti ...
, and former ambassador
Modou Dia Modou Dia (born 27 March 1950) is a Senegalese politician and former diplomat. Dia represented Senegal in Saudi Arabia, the Soviet Union, West Germany and Austria. He also was the Senegalese permanent representative to the Organisation of the Islam ...
.


Campaign

Wade faced criticism over a variety of issues, including unemployment and the continuing
Casamance conflict The Casamance conflict is an ongoing low-level conflict that has been waged between the Politics of Senegal, Government of Senegal and the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) since 1982. On May 1, 2014, the leader of the MFDC Suing f ...
, as well as alleged corruption and the delays of the parliamentary election. Major construction projects undertaken by Wade split opinion in the country. Wade's campaign called for the people to give him a majority of the vote in the first round, but it was widely expected that a second round would be necessary, and Wade's opponents denied the possibility that he could legitimately win a first-round majority. Many politicians who had backed Wade in 2000 had since turned against him, which could be viewed as making it improbable that Wade would do as well in 2007; on the other hand, it has been pointed out that Senegal's demographics, with a high proportion of young people in the electorate, could make it difficult to compare the two elections.


Results

Shortly after the election was held, Prime Minister
Macky Sall Macky Sall (, , ; born 11 December 1961) is a Senegalese politician who served as the fourth president of Senegal from 2012 to 2024. He previously served as the eighth Prime Minister of Senegal, prime minister from 2004 to 2007, under President ...
, who was also Wade's campaign manager, said that Wade had won the election in the first round with about 57% of the vote, based on initial results. According to results announced on 1 March, Wade won about 1.9 million votes, about 55.9% of the total. Seck was in second place with 14.9% of the vote and Tanor Dieng was in third place with 13.6%. Voter turnout was said to be 70.5%. Wade won the most votes in 32 out of 34 of the country's
departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
, including a majority in 28 of them. Seck won the department of
Thiès Thiès (; ; Noon language, Noon: ''Chess'') is the third largest city in Senegal with a population of 391,253 in 2023. It lies east of Dakar on the N2 road (Senegal), N2 road and at the junction of railway lines to Dakar, Bamako and Saint-Louis, ...
and Niasse won the department of Nioro. Abdoulaye Bathily's campaign rejected the results and alleged that there were flaws in the voting, saying that a person could be registered more than once, and that the ink used in voting, which was supposed to be
indelible ''Indelible'' is the fourth book in the Grant County series by author Karin Slaughter. It was originally released in hardback in 2004. Previous books in the series are '' Blindsighted'', ''Kisscut'', and '' A Faint Cold Fear''. These books star ...
, could be washed off. Ousmane Tanor Dieng's spokesperson also rejected the results, and on 5 March Dieng filed a Constitutional Court appeal regarding alleged lack of transparency and irregularities. Final results from the Constitutional Council on 11 March gave Wade 55.90%, Seck 14.92%, and Dieng 13.56%. The Council rejected appeals from Dieng and Bathily. Wade was sworn in on 3 April at the Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium in Dakar, with many African leaders and about 60,000 spectators in attendance.


References

{{Senegalese elections Presidential elections in Senegal
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
Presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...