Amid vote counting and results collation on Monday, President Macky Sall and Amadou Ba of the ruling Benno Bokk Yaakaar coalition congratulated Bassirou Diomaye Faye of the PASTEF party. 

Mr Faye maintains a clear lead and is set to win Senegal’s presidential election.

Though Mr Faye is yet to be officially announced as the winner of the March 24 presidential election, Messrs Sall and Ba have accepted defeat and congratulated the opposition candidate.

In a post on X, Mr Sall said, “I salute the smooth running of the presidential election of March 24, 2024, and congratulate the winner, Mr Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who the trends show as the winner. It is the victory of Senegalese democracy.”

Similarly, Mr Sall’s party man and anointed candidate, Mr Ba, in an X post on Monday afternoon, said, “In view of the trends in the results of the presidential election and while awaiting the official proclamation, I congratulate President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye for his victory in the first round.”

Other candidates also congratulated Mr Faye earlier on Monday as he maintained a clear lead in the election.

The hotly contested election featured 17 candidates. To secure a first-round win, a candidate must win over 50 per cent of votes.

When officially declared the winner of the election, Mr Faye, 44, will be Senegal’s youngest president. He was released 10 days before the election after being in jail for 11 months over defamation and contempt of court allegations. 

Over seven million Senegalese went to the polls on Sunday after Mr Sall postponed the election for many days. This development threatened the country’s political stability and elicited amnesty for political prisoners like Faye and his political ally, Ousmane Sonko.

The European Union Election Observation Mission said the election process has been calm.

Senegal is one of Africa’s most stable democracies. Though surrounded by neighbouring countries with a history of military coups d’état, it has maintained democratic change of power since 1960.