Senegalese President Macky Sall’s Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition has narrowly won the July 31st legislative election after the opposition alliance took many key cities in the municipal elections in March.
According to France24, the president’s first-ever ruling coalition now narrowly holds a parliamentary majority thanks to a new alliance with opposition leader Diop.
The narrow absolute majority win was achieved after joining forces with an opposition MP, Pape Diop, a former president of the assembly, and the senate who won 1 seat to make 83 seats for the ruling party coalition. Pape Diop later told the press that his corporation saved Senegal from “a block on the functioning of its institutions”.
“A national assembly placed under the control of the opposition will inevitably lead to an institutional crisis”, warned Diop.
According to an announcement made late Thursday, the president’s coalition which includes his party Alliance for the Republic (APR) and other parties, won 82 seats of the 165 sets in the national assembly’s constitutional council, Senegal’s highest court. The number of seats claimed is down from 125 in 2017.
The opposition alliance Yewwi Wallu won 80 seats in total. 56 seats were taken by Yewwi Askan Wi, a coalition led by the main opponent Ousmane Sonko and Khalifa Sall. 24 seats went to the “Wallu Senegal” coalition, led by former president Abdoulaye Wade.
President Macky Sall has promised to appoint a prime minister from the opposition, a post that was suspended after his re-election in 2019. Senegal will hold its presidential election in 2024 marking Macky Sall’s 12-year tenure.
