Senegal - August 2022

Senegal held a regularly scheduled legislative election on 31 July. The election was reported to be free and fair. Both the governing coalition and opposition parties had encountered some procedural problems related to the registration of candidates, but there were no significant technical or legal challenges during the polling. The election saw increased support for opposition parties, reducing the seats held by the coalition supporting President Macky Sall (Benno Bokk Yakaar) from 125 seats down to 82 in the 165-seat legislature. Sall’s coalition was able to maintain a bare majority through the support of Pape Diop, the sole member from Bokk Gis-Gis. One key outcome of this election is that Benno Bokk Yakaar no longer has enough seats to pass constitutional amendments without the support of opposition parties. Since a constitutional change would be required to allow President Sall to run for a third term, this change in the legislature has significant implications for the future of presidential term limits in Senegal.

Sources: France 24, Africa News, The Conversation