Senegal’s Constitutional Council confirmed Wednesday the governing party’s win in parliamentary elections, giving it the majority needed to implement its pan-Africanist programme.
The final results give the Pastef party 130 seats out of 165 in parliament, one of the largest majorities ever won by a single party in the west African nation.
Pastef’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye swept to the presidency in March pledging a shake-up in Senegal, which is facing soaring unemployment and three years of economic and political crisis.
But an opposition-dominated parliament hampered his efforts to implement leftist policies, and Faye dissolved the assembly as soon as he was constitutionally allowed.
The Council’s final results serve as vindication for the campaign of Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, with the former firebrand opposition leader criss-crossing the country to rally support for Pastef’s platform.
They also confirm the defeat of the opposition, with coalitions headed by former president Macky Sall and his protege Amadou Ba winning just 16 and seven seats respectively.
Meanwhile the movement of Dakar mayor Barthelemy Dias, whose fiery exchanges with Sonko caught the eye on the campaign trail, gained three seats in the legislature.
Independent Tahirou Sarr also won a seat after a campaign heavy on nationalist rhetoric and attacks on Senegal’s Guinean and Lebanese communities.
Other governments have won stronger majorities than Pastef, but those came via coalitions rather than a single party.
In 1988, Senegal’s Socialist Party won 103 out of 120 seats under then-president Abdou Diouf.
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