Voter apathy in Senegal legislative elections
Turnout in Sunday’s legislative elections in Senegal was low and results are being awaited from the generally peaceful polls.
Senegalese did not shown the kind of voting enthusiasm they showed when they went to the polls earlier this year, in the country’s presidential election.
In an interview with West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR), an election official in the capital, Dakar, Adama Faye said that Sunday’s low turnout showed that “people in Senegal are really fed up with politics” because many politicians make empty promises.
According to figures given to WADR by some local election observers, turnout was estimated at about 33% in some places, but in the capital, Dakar it hovered around 40%.
Hundreds of candidates from 24 coalitions including President Macky Sall’s Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition contested the 150 National Assembly seats.
For the first time, the equal parity law for females in Senegal is being put into effect in this legislative election, a predominantly Muslim nation.
WADR’s Kara Thioune spoke with Adama Fay a deputy election supervisor in Dakar.
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