Publications
- Senegal: What Will Turnover Bring?
- Download: PDF 1.01 MB
- by Kelly, Catherine
- On 25 March 2012, Macky Sall of the Alliance for the Republic (APR)
won the second round of Senegal’s presidential election with 65.8 percent
of the vote, handily defeating incumbent president Abdoulaye Wade
of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), who had won the most votes
in the first round. In contrast to a tumultuous campaign season, election
day itself was relatively peaceful. Wade graciously accepted defeat,
phoning Sall to congratulate him several hours after the polls closed.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy called this gesture “proof of [Wade’s]
attachment to democracy.” This appraisal is too generous, however.
The peaceful turnover followed months of protests and violent repression,
as well as a rumored intervention by military officials to force
Wade to accept defeat after the second-round voting. Debates about
the constitutionality of Wade’s candidacy, as well as an earlier change
that he had proposed in the election law, helped to generate this turmoil,
which included at least ten deaths, dozens of arrests, and many injuries.
- Publication Type: Published Paper
- Publisher: Journal of Democracy
- Published Date: July 2012
- Field of Interest: International Relations
- Kelly, Catherine. "Senegal: What Will Turnover Bring?" Journal of Democracy, 23 (3), 2012.
