5 Senegalese Muslim clerics win historic legislative seats
Muslim religious leaders in Senegal have for the first time won 5 out of 150 seats in the country’s new National Assembly during this week’s legislative elections.
Some political observers say the election of several religious leaders as Members of Parliament came as surprise to many in the Muslim dominated nation, where clerics have until now not got directly involved in contesting elective positions.
Political analysts in Senegal argue that voters have chosen those MPs, because they are losing confidence more and more in mainstream politicians who have failed to deliver on their promises.
Turnout was very low, with just 36.67% of the five million registered voters casting their ballots.
Abdou Lo, one of the Senegal's political analysts said "the reading we can have of that is that the political elite that have been ruling this country from independence in the 1960s is that elite has failed in fulfilling its mission."
WADR's Kara Thioune speaks with Lo.
Click audio below to listen
President Sall's Benno Bokk Yaakaar coalition won 119 of the 150 seats in the assembly.
Sall came to power just over three months ago, after defeating former President Abdoulaye Wade, whose Parti démocratique Sénégalais (PDS) performed poorly in last Sunday’s legislative race. PDS only managed to win 12 seats, Bokk Gis Gis - a coalition of PDS dissidents won 4 and other smaller parties shared the rest of the 15 seats.
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