Senegal’s Wade ahead as first results trickle in
February 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment
2007/2/27
By Heidi Vogt DAKAR, Senegal, AP
President Abdoulaye Wade led 14 contenders Monday as elections officials began tallying results from a vote many hoped would cement Senegal’s image as an example of democracy in Africa, despite its poverty.
Sunday’s vote appeared to have proceeded calmly through most of the West African country, though military officials said rebels attacked some soldiers carrying ballot boxes in the still-restive southern region of Casamance Sunday night. One soldier died and two others were hurt, army officer Boubacar Sane said.
Sane said the army believed the attack was instigated by rebels "who were trying to oppose the presidential election." However, he said the attackers were repelled and the ballot boxes stayed in army hands.
The incident occurred about 60 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of the regional capital of Zinguinchor, near the village of Vagarang.
The election is being widely watched as an indicator of how well Senegal’s leader fulfilled promises of streamlined government and economic opportunity in a poor country accused of significant corruption even as it has maintained peace and democratic handovers of power.
Early results reported by the state-run Senegalese Press Agency indicated that Wade was in the lead but did not say by how much.
It was not known how many votes had been counted, but the agency said Wade was well ahead at some of the 12,000 polling stations across the country that had reported results, included the key cities of Dakar and Thies.
Wade, 80, has presided over an era of peace rare in a tumultuous part of the continent, and the economy — though struggling by Western standards — is stronger than in many other African nations.
Still, unemployment stands at about 50 percent and thousands of desperate youth have risked their lives trying to sneak illegally into Europe by sea.
Incumbent leads Senegal polls
February 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment
afrol News, 26 February - The Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade, is waiting to be declared the overall winner of the country’s presidential polls, held yesterday. Mr Wade, who has been challenged by 14 other candidates, is expected to have polled close to 60 percent of the votes in one of Africa’s democratic leaders, that is yet to taste coup d’état.
According to provisional results, the voter turn out was more than 70 percent, which was why some polling centres with long queues voted beyond the official closing hours, 18:00.
Mr Wade’s former Prime Minister, Idrissa Seck, is reported to rank second while the leader of the formerly ruling Parti Socialiste (PS), Ousmane Tanor Dieng, followed.
International election observers have already described the conduct of the polls as free, fair and transparent.
Macky Sall, the current Prime Minister and campaign manager of Mr Wade’s Coalition Sopi 2007, quickly convened a news conference at the party’s bureau in Dakar, announcing a first-round victory for their candidate. Mr Sall said going by the partial results, it was clear that Mr Wade swept the polls with 57 percent of the votes. Mr Sall said the results were irrefutable and as such the opposition should start bowing down.
Opposition leaders condemned Mr Sall’s pronouncement, arguing that it would be impossible to avoid a second round polls unless the results were defrauded. They found it hard to believe that the incumbent had polled more than the 50 percent necessary for an outright win.
Besides, officials of Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA) warned against any attempts to pre-empt the results. They argued that such an announcement would not help the climate of serenity.
Official provisional results were expected tonight and if no candidate polls 51 percent of the votes, then a second round run-off will take place in mid-March. In that event, Mr Wade’s challenger is given better chances by most observers.
There are fears of post electoral violence, as some opposition leaders have started questioning the relayed results.
Mr Wade’s camp however conceded defeat in few provinces. These include Thiès and Kerr Majabel, where Idrissa Seck and the candidate of Alliance of Progressive Forces (AFP), Moustapha Niasse, had beaten President Wade.
President Wade swept the polls in both Senegal and abroad. He polled over 75 percent of the foreign votes.
The Senegalese President dislodged PS from power in 2000 during the second round of voting. The PS had ruled the country since independence.
Mr Wade, who is seeking a second term, has come under pressure in recent months over high rural unemployment.
After voting in Point E in the capital Dakar, President Wade told journalists that nothing could stop him from sweeping the polls in the first round. "Door dorat," he said in Wollof, meaning "I will win and win again."
But the PS leader argued that Mr Wade was merely bluffing because he was at the brink of losing.
Though his critics accused his regime of its failure to arrest poverty through the creation of jobs, Mr Wade, an economic liberal and legal luminary, argued that he has boosted Senegal’s reputation as a model of democracy, political freedom and stability.
Democracy in Dakar, Episode 2
February 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment
To view Episode 1, please click here. And don’t forget to get over to CurrentTV and vote this project onto real TV!
Democracy in Dakar, Episode 2
"Freedom of Speech"
In the second installment of this documentary series, several of the main candidates for President in Senegal are introduced against a backdrop of the campaigning on the street and the perspective of hip-hop crews from across Dakar.
The optimism that accompanies most elections is tempered with the reality of the emerging democracy in Senegal, including the suppression of criticism of the government, both through brute intimidation and more subtle means (bribery, lack of airplay, etc).
Episode 2 closes with the song "Yaa Tey" by Xuman, one of the most prominent political rappers from the group Pee Frois.
