Wade-Sall runoff most likely, as Obasanjo hails Senegal maturity
The African Union-ECOWAS special envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has praised the people of Senegal for their maturity shown during last Sunday’s presidential election.
The run up to the polls was marred by violence, which left some six persons dead.
He commended and congratulated the government and people of Senegal for the way they’ve conducted themselves for holding a free, fair and transparent election.
Speaking at a news conference in Dakar on Tuesday, Obasanjo said the maturity, tolerance and patience of Senegalese was beyond what many people had expected.
Click audio below to listen
At the same time there are clear indications that a second round of presidential election will take place in Senegal between incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade and his one-time Prime Minister Macky Sall.
Although the country’s autonomous National Elections Commission is yet to release official provisional results from Sunday’s peaceful polls, the camps of the two front runners have told the media they are poised for a second round.
Unofficial results coming out of polling centers and statements from election observers so far point to this, as none of the 14 candidates have managed to poll 50% of the votes.
Senegal’s election law requires that the winner in the first round must get an absolute majority—ie 50% of the votes plus one.
Many international and local election observers’ preliminary reports have hailed last Sunday’s election as generally free, fair and transparent.
Tweet
