Iran Press/Africa: There are 7,033,854 people qualified for voting who can cast their votes on the ballots that are set in 6040 voting centers distributed throughout the country with a total of 15,633 polling stations.
Here in this center at Parcelles Assainies in the department of Dakar, citizens stormed the polling stations to fulfill their civic duty. Voting started at 8 a.m. GMT.
This is a historical moment in the Senegalese presidential election since the country's independence in 1960. it's the first time that an outgoing president is not a candidate for his succession in a presidential race.
In this first-round ballot, two candidates act as favorites among the 19 protagonists. This is Amadou Ba the candidate from BBY
(Benno Bokk Yaakar) the coalition, successor of the outgoing President Macky Sall, and Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, the right-hand man of Ousmane Sonko principal figure of the opposition who saw his candidacy rejected by Constitutional Council for ineligibility.
The two men were released from prison on March 14 thanks to a much-criticized amnesty law, concerning all “facts relating to the violent political demonstrations that occurred between 2021 and 2024" voted by parliament at the request of the outgoing president.
They had been charged with criminal conspiracy in connection with a terrorist enterprise, calling for insurrection, among other offenses. In this commune of Parcelles Assainies, the stronghold of Amadou BA, heir of the outgoing president, security is more than reinforced due to the strong rivalry with the opposition that administers the commune.
The defense and security forces are keeping a close watch to ward off any hint of violence. It is in this center that Amadou BA must vote.
Bassirou Diomaye FAYE, the other candidate for the presidential chair, for his part votes about a hundred kilometers from the capital.
The voting process will close at 6 p.m. as provided by electoral law. The first trends are expected in the evening.
206
Read More:
Nigerian school children regain freedom
