Senegalese voters are voting in legislative elections in which the opposition hopes to forge an alliance with President Macky Sall and curb any potential ambitions for a third term.
Sall, 60, who was elected in 2012 for a seven-year term and then re-elected in 2019 for another five years, has been accused of seeking to exceed the presidential term limit and run again in 2024.
Sall did not disclose his intentions in this regard, but any defeat of his supporters in Sunday’s elections could ruin such plans.
Senegals elect members to a unicameral parliament of 165 deputies, currently dominated by supporters of President Sall, for a five-year term.
In preparation for the elections, the Free the People coalition agreed with the Save Senegal (Waloo Senegal) coalition, led by former President Abdoulaye Wade, to work together to win a parliamentary majority and “impose the coexistence of governments.”
The two alliances also want to force Salla to give up any ambition to run in 2024. In local elections in March, the opposition won in major cities including the capital, Dakar, Ziguinchor in the south and Tess in the west.
