“In electoral memory, this is unprecedented!” exclaims the daily 24 Heures. “Senegalese voters seem to be sanctioning twelve years of rule. For an opponent who was banned from making recordings for the national television campaign journal; for someone who was stripped of his political bases by being sent to prison; for someone who conducted just (a single) week of campaign electoral (...), the provisional results collected from the majority of the voting centers of the diaspora and at the national level seem unequivocal. The trends are significant! The coalition "Diomaye President" has swept through the most significant polling stations.”

Congratulations…

“Happy birthday Mister President”, happy birthday Mr. President, headlined on the front page of WalfQuotidien. With this full-page photo of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, his arms raised in victory.

“Bassirou Diomaye Faye celebrates his birthday today,” notes the Dakar daily, “and at 44 years old, he becomes the youngest president of the Republic of Senegal. According to several sources close to his Pastef party, the military protocol visited his home overnight to secure him. Moreover, most of the candidates have congratulated him and recognized their defeat. Thus, Bassirou Diomaye Faye goes from prison to the palace.”

Indeed, notes the news site Senego, “Bassirou Diomaye Faye has already received congratulations from almost all his opponents, with the notable exceptions of Amadou Ba and Idrissa Seck. The outcome of yesterday's presidential election seems to be tilting in favor of Faye, whose victory could be confirmed if his main rival congratulates him in the coming hours.”

Among the first to congratulate him: Karim Wade... “The candidate of the Senegalese Democratic Party, disqualified by the dual nationality filter, is exulting from Doha,” notes DakarActu: “I warmly congratulate Bassirou Diomaye Faye for his resounding victory in the first round of the presidential election. Our fellow citizens have not been swayed by petty maneuvers aimed at distorting the sincerity of the vote. Democracy has won.”

Amadou Bâ remains silent…

As for Amadou Bâ, who would be in second place, he remains silent... He is expected to speak in the middle of the day. His camp asserts “a firm belief in the possibility of a second round,” points out the news site Seneplus, thereby contradicting predictions of a unilateral victory. The candidate's camp of the presidential majority emphasizes its confidence that, even in the worst-case scenario, Amadou Bâ would be in a runoff in the second round of the election.

Comment by Seneplus: “this statement, both firm and optimistic, reflects the complexity of the Senegalese political landscape, where election results are often unpredictable and dialogue between different actors is crucial for the preservation of social peace and democracy.”

Who will really hold power?

In any case, while waiting for the official results, we can say, comments WakatSéra in Burkina Faso, that “the vote took place in an overall calm atmosphere. And once again, Senegal, as before every presidential election, played at scaring itself.” But, “once again (still), Senegal is the only real winner of this election,” notes the Ouagadougou site, which wonders: “how will Senegal present itself after Macky Sall, if Bassirou Diomaye Faye is victorious? Who will hold the real power between the elected president and the one whose “Plan B” he was, Ousmane Sonko? (...) It is certain that this change will inevitably have an impact in one way or another on the course of political events in the sub-region!”

Finally, Ledjely in Guinea also asks: “what kind of relationship will the mentor maintain with his protégé who became president? Will Sonko be a proxy president? Or should we expect a split resulting from Diomaye's desire to break free from an encumbering guardianship? (...) The Senegalese may have chosen a leap into the unknown. The desire for change is certainly commendable. But it is to be hoped that it does not lead to a new dead end.”

With RFI