With fireworks displays, packed rallies, and town-to-town caravans, Senegalese political parties are wooing voters in a parliamentary race that will decide the extent to which the new president will be able to implement his agenda.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has been under pressure to make good on promises to crack down on corruption and improve livelihoods that helped sweep him to power in April following a landslide election victory the previous month.
Faye has accused lawmakers in the opposition-led national assembly of refusing to engage in meaningful talks on the budget and other proposals and dissolved parliament last month, paving the way for the legislative election on Nov. 17.
Campaigning officially kicked off on Sunday. Faye's Pastef party is competing for a majority that would secure his mandate, but former ruling parties have formed a rival coalition that unites the country's influential ex-presidents Macky Sall and Abdoulaye Wade.
"This election has symbolic significance," said political analyst Mamadou Seck. "The critical challenge today is for Diomaye Faye to understand whether the people who elected him with 54% still support his program."
Earlier in October, the government unveiled an ambitious 25-year development plan that Faye promised would boost local industry, diversify the economy, and create much-needed jobs for the West African country's fast-growing population.
The main threat to Pastef's ambitions is the unexpected alliance of Sall's Alliance for the Republic party (APR) and Wade's Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), who together accounted for 106 of 165 seats in the outgoing national assembly.
"This is the first time Pastef has decided to run alone, without a coalition. It appears that they are testing their strength and influence," said analyst Seck, cautioning that the party had also recruited one-time allies of Sall in an effort to shore up support.
The race also includes two smaller opposition coalitions represented by former Prime Minister Amadou Ba and mayor of the capital Dakar Barthelemy Dias.
"I wish all Senegalese and all political actors a peaceful and dignified electoral campaign, and I guarantee that ... the best will win," Faye said on national TV on Friday.
