Winner of Senegal's presidential election calls for a break with the current system

Opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye celebrated on Monday that the people of Senegal have decided to "break with" the current political system by electing him the youngest president in the African country's history.

The ruling party's candidate in the election, Amadou Ba, had earlier acknowledged his anti-establishment rival's victory as a political seismic shift in the West African nation.

The 44-year-old opposition candidate, released from prison just ten days before the elections, described himself as "the option of rupture", but called for "national reconciliation" after three years of instability and political crisis.

It is the first time in the twelve presidential elections held under universal suffrage since Senegal's independence from France in 1960 that an opposition candidate has won in the first round of voting.

Even before the official release of the results, the 62-year-old Ba congratulated Faye "on his victory in the first round".

Outgoing president Macky Sall, who did not run after his victories in 2012 and 2019, also congratulated him and hailed "a victory for Senegalese democracy".

Faye promised a left-wing pan-African policy and to renegotiate oil and gas contracts just as the country is set to begin exploiting newly found reserves.

Dakar's Western allies such as the US and France congratulated the winner, who pledged to be "a safe and reliable ally" of any country "respectful" of them.

The national electoral commission has until Friday to publish the provisional results, before validation by the Constitutional Council. An absolute majority of the vote is needed to win in the first round, otherwise the two main candidates will run in a run-off.

The election was scheduled for 25 February, but the outgoing president postponed it at the last minute, triggering a wave of violence.

Several weeks of turmoil tested Senegal's democracy until the election was finally scheduled for 24 March.

Ten days before the election, Faye was released from prison along with opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who had been waging an anti-power struggle since 2021 that at times led to violent protests.

Both had been imprisoned in connection with this dispute. Sonko was barred from running in the elections because of a defamation conviction, but backed Faye.

Senegal is considered one of the most stable countries in West Africa, a region recently shaken by several coups.