Before Senegal’s fifth president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, was inaugurated on Tuesday, supporters of Faye gathered at the Abdou Diouf International Conference Centre in Diamniadio, which is located just outside of Dakar.
Protests in Dakar that became violent in February over former president Macky Sall’s decision to postpone elections ultimately led to Faye’s election.
After Sall was ordered to do so by Senegal’s Constitutional Court, elections were held on March 24.
Seynabou Diop, a Senegalese citizen whose son was slain during the protests, expressed her hope that the new administration would bring relief by clearing things out for them.
“Although nothing can ever compensate for the loss of a child, I pray that those accountable for my son’s murder are brought to justice.”
In addition to being the youngest president in Senegal’s history, Faye has became the youngest president in Africa to be democratically elected at the age of 44.
The younger generation in Senegal saw him as a refreshing break from the previous political elite, who were widely believed to have lost touch with their dreams and ambitions.
Attendee and Faye supporter Oumar Sakho made the statement, “a new day begins in Senegal,” at the inauguration. Awaited by the youth, this is finally here.
If no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, the analysts had anticipated that the election would go to a second round of voting. In the first round, though, Faye shocked everyone by winning with 54% of the vote.
Nothing could have been foreseen. In Senegal, this is the first instance of an opposition candidate gaining power with fifty percent or more of the vote, with no challenges or appeals. As Mayébé Mbaye spoke outside the conference centre, he described the scenario as unique.
Due to the imminent expiration of Macky Sall’s term on April 2, the inauguration had to take place today, a week after the presidential election.
