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Ruling, Opposition Parties Claim Early Victory in Senegal's Legislative Elections

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People wait in line outside their voting station in the popular neighborhood of Ngor in Dakar on July 31, 2022, as voting starts in Senegal's legislative elections.
People wait in line outside their voting station in the popular neighborhood of Ngor in Dakar on July 31, 2022, as voting starts in Senegal's legislative elections.

Senegal's ruling and opposition parties claimed victory Monday as provisional vote tallies came in from Sunday's legislative election.

Former Prime Minister Aminata Toure, who heads the ruling coalition, announced on national television that the party had won 30 out of 46 administrative departments.

"This undoubtedly gives us a majority in the National Assembly," she said.

Toure said President Macky Sall's ruling coalition will hold on to its majority.

The main opposition coalition said in a statement Monday that it has defeated the ruling party in most departments.

"The provisional results from the legislative elections show that President Macky Sall lost the elections ... and that he will not have a majority in the National Assembly," it said.

The final nationwide results of the election are not expected to be known until at least Friday.

Senegal's hybrid election system includes both representatives who win a majority of votes in their administrative departments, as well as representatives elected from national lists, using proportional representation. In addition, some representatives are chosen by Senegalese who live abroad.

Senegal is considered one of the African continent's most stable democracies, but there is concern because Sall has not ruled out running for a third term in 2024, a move that would go against the country's constitution.

Violent protests broke out last year after Sall's main opponent, Ousmane Sonko, was arrested on rape charges.

Some information in this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.

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