2017 Senegalese parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Senegal on 30 July 2017,[1] having originally been planned for 2 July.[2]

2017 Senegalese parliamentary election

30 July 2017
All 165 seats in the National Assembly 83 seats needed for a majority
Leader Mohammed Dionne Abdoulaye Wade Khalifa Sall Alliance BBY MWS MTS Last election 119 seats, 53.06% new coalition new coalition Seats won 125 19 7 Popular vote 1,637,761 552,095 388,188 Percentage 49.47% 16.68% 11.73%
Prime Minister before election Mohammed Dionne Independent Prime Minister after election Mohammed Dionne Independent

Background

The original election date was chosen on 1 December 2016 after a meeting between the President of Senegal Macky Sall and the Opposition in the National Assembly.[2]

The coalition of parties supporting President Sall, Benno Bokk Yaakaar, sought to retain the parliamentary majority it obtained in the 2012 parliamentary election. It included Sall's party, the Alliance for the Republic, as well as the Socialist Party and the Alliance of the Forces of Progress.[1] The coalition's national candidate list was headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Dionne.[1][3]

Plans for a united opposition coalition that would incorporate the Senegalese Democratic Party of Abdoulaye Wade as well as the supporters of imprisoned Dakar Mayor Khalifa Sall were ultimately scuttled in late May 2017 because the two sides could not agree on who should head the coalition's candidate list. Consequently the two sides decided to stand separately, with Wade and Khalifa Sall each heading their respective lists. The opposition's failure to unite was viewed as a boon for President Sall, making it appear more likely that he would keep his parliamentary majority; if his supporters lost, he would be forced into cohabitation for the remaining two years of his term, greatly curtailing his powers.[4][5]

Electoral system

The 165 members of the National Assembly are elected by two methods; 90 are elected by either first-past-the-post or party bloc vote in 35 single- or multi-member constituencies based on the 35 departments, with an additional 15 elected by overseas voters.[6] The other 60 seats are elected from a nationwide constituency by proportional representation, with seats allocated initially using the simple quotient, with remaining seats allocated using the largest remainder method.[7]

Campaign

The official campaign period began on 8 July. Wade, who had been living in France, returned to Dakar on 10 July to begin campaigning for his coalition, Manko Wattu Sénégal.[8] A record number of parties, 47, contested the elections.[6]

Results

Voter turnout was reported to be 54%.[6] Prime Minister Dionne, speaking on 31 July, said that the pro-Sall Benno Bokk Yaakaar coalition had prevailed in 42 out of the 45 departments of Senegal (all but Kédougou, Saraya and "probably" Mbacké). The opposition coalition led by Khalifa Sall, however, said that it had won in Dakar, the capital.[9] Results for Dakar released on 3 August showed Benno Bokk Yaakaar slightly ahead of Khalifa Sall's coalition, Manko Taxawu Sénégal.[10]

Provisional results released on 4 August showed Benno Bokk Yaakaar winning 125 out of 165 seats, a strong majority. The two main opposition coalitions trailed distantly; Manko Wattu Sénégal (led by Wade) obtained 19 seats and Manko Taxawu Sénégal (led by Khalifa Sall) obtained seven seats.[11][12] The presidential coalition was slightly short of a majority in the vote count, receiving 49.5% of the votes.[12]

Party	Votes	%	Seats
			Constituency	National	Total
Benno Bokk Yakaar Coalition	1,637,761	49.47	95	30	125
Manko Wattu Sénégal Coalition	552,095	16.68	9	10	19
Manko Taxawu Sénégal Coalition	388,188	11.73	0	7	7
Party for Unity and Rally	155,407	4.69	0	3	3
Patriotic Convergence Coalition	65,235	1.97	1	1	2
Ndawi Askan Wi	37,535	1.13	0	1	1
Manko Yeesal Senegal Coalition	33,130	1.00	0	1	1
Patriotic Convergence for Justice and Equity	29,596	0.89	0	1	1
Oser l'avenir Coalition	24,342	0.74	0	1	1
And Saxal Liggeey Coalition	23,142	0.70	0	1	1
Party for Truth and Development	22,769	0.69	0	1	1
Alternative Pole Third Voice	19,675	0.59	0	1	1
Initiative for a Policy of Development	19,211	0.58	0	1	1
Citizen Union	18,268	0.55	0	1	1
Union for Federalism and Democracy	17,636	0.53	0	0	0
Senegal Can Kanam Coalition	16,142	0.49	0	0	0
Manko Wattu Senegal coalition	14,681	0.44	0	0	0
Movement for Republican Renewal	14,255	0.43	0	0	0
Joyyanti Coalition	14,231	0.43	0	0	0
Défar Senegal	14,179	0.43	0	0	0
And Défar Sénégal/Group of Support and Renewal of Public Action	13,145	0.40	0	0	0
And Suxali Senegal Coalition	12,541	0.38	0	0	0
Rally for Dignity and Prosperity	11,415	0.34	0	0	0
Democratic Federation of Ecologists of Senegal	10,957	0.33	0	0	0
Leeral Coalition	9,689	0.29	0	0	0
Party of Peace	8,850	0.27	0	0	0
Convergence of the Initiatives for Senegal	8,776	0.27	0	0	0
Neneen Citizen Convention	8,727	0.26	0	0	0
Mbollo Wade	8,093	0.24	0	0	0
Sunu Party for Solidarity and the Development of Senegal	7,758	0.23	0	0	0
Alternative Visions for Senegal	7,590	0.23	0	0	0
Fal Askan Wi Coalition	7,474	0.23	0	0	0
Framework of Reflection for Integral Development	7,295	0.22	0	0	0
Soppali Coalition	7,268	0.22	0	0	0
The Third Policy Coalition	7,033	0.21	0	0	0
National Front	6,605	0.20	0	0	0
Party for Citizen Action	6,551	0.20	0	0	0
Senegal-Vein Environment	6,398	0.19	0	0	0
Senegalese Democratic Rally	6,099	0.18	0	0	0
Alliance for Reform and Development	5,664	0.17	0	0	0
Citizens for Ethics and Transparency	4,980	0.15	0	0	0
Dental Senegal/Patriotic Action	4,300	0.13	0	0	0
Movement for Renewal, Freedom and Development	4,193	0.13	0	0	0
Patriotic Liberal Convergence	3,301	0.10	0	0	0
Republican Patriotic Front	3,156	0.10	0	0	0
Bi Nu Begg Assembly Coalition	2,951	0.09	0	0	0
Rally for Ethics and Emerging Values	2,148	0.06	0	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	27,059	–	–	–	–
Total	3,337,494	100	105	60	165
Registered voter/turnout	6,219,446	53.66	–	–	–
Source: Senego

Subsequent events

Following the victory of Benno Bokk Yaakaar, President Sall reappointed Dionne as Prime Minister on 6 September 2017.[13] Abdoulaye Wade, elected to the National Assembly as the top candidate on his coalition's candidate list, announced his resignation as a Deputy on 10 September, before the National Assembly even began meeting. He explained that his purpose in running was merely to support his coalition in the election.[14]

References

1. Leitner, Claire (30 June 2017). "Senegal – A divided opposition for the legislative election". CNBCAfrica. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
2. "Sénégal: élections législatives le 2 juillet 2017". Le Figaro (in French). 12 December 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
3. "Législatives : Les listes de Benno Bokk Yaakaar". Seneweb (in French). 10 June 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
4. "Sénégal : l’ancien président Wade candidat aux législatives", Le Monde, 30 May 2017 (in French).
5. Benjamin Roger, "Législatives sénégalaises : la coalition de l’opposition implose, Abdoulaye Wade sur le retour", Jeune Afrique, 30 May 2017 (in French).
6. "Sénégal : les électeurs dans l’attente des résultats des législatives", Jeune Afrique, 31 July 2017 (in French)
7. "Senegal Assemblée nationale (National Assembly)". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
8. Benjamin Roger, "Sénégal : Abdoulaye Wade de retour à Dakar pour mener campagne", Jeune Afrique, 10 July 2017 (in French).
9. "Législatives au Sénégal: la majorité revendique une large victoire" Archived 2017-08-02 at the Wayback Machine, Agence France-Presse, 1 August 2017 (in French).
10. "Législatives au Sénégal : la coalition de Macky Sall victorieuse à Dakar selon les résultats partiels", Jeune Afrique, 3 August 2017 (in French).
11. "Senegal ruling party wins large parliamentary majority", Reuters, 5 August 2017.
12. "Sénégal : la majorité présidentielle remporte haut la main les législatives", Agence France-Presse, 5 August 2017 (in French).
13. "Sénégal : Macky Sall reconduit son Premier ministre", Jeune Afrique, 6 September 2017 (in French).
14. "Sénégal : Abdoulaye Wade démissionne de son poste de député à l’Assemblée Nationale", Jeune Afrique, 11 September 2017 (in French).