KIGALI, Rwanda
Senegal’s ruling Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF) party of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye won 130 of the 165 parliamentary seats in legislative elections, according to the provisional results announced late Thursday.
Results of the elections held on Sunday showed that the coalition led by former Senegalese President Macky Sall came second with 16 seats, former Prime Minister Amadou Ba’s coalition won seven, and Dakar Mayor Barthelemy Dias’ got three.
Forty-one parties, coalitions, and political groups competed in the election in the West African country.
Out of roughly 7.3 million registered voters, the number of valid votes cast was 3.6 million.
Final results will be proclaimed by the Constitutional Council in the coming days.
Faye called for the election after dissolving the opposition-led National Assembly in September in a bid to break the tension between the legislature and the executive.
The move came six months after Faye was elected under the opposition platform.
Faye said the opposition-dominated legislature had made it hard for him to execute the “systemic transformation” that he promised on the campaign trail.
