Senegal presidential election 2012

Surprise winner of the 2012 presidential election: Chérif Macky Sall (photo from 2008)

The first round of the presidential election took place on February 26, 2012 in Senegal , West Africa . In the run-up to the election there had been violent protests against the announced third candidacy of 85-year-old incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade , the rejection of the intended candidacy of the internationally known pop star Youssou N'Dour and the mistreatment of several opposition politicians by the police. Election day itself was peaceful, with voter turnout at just under 52%.

None of the candidates achieved an absolute majority in the first ballot. Therefore, Wade, who received 35% of the vote, surprisingly had to run in a runoff against Macky Sall , who received almost 27% of the vote. Third place was Moustapha Niasse with 13%. In the first round, both Wade's most successful rival in the 2007 presidential election , Idrissa Seck , and the candidate of the former socialist state party, Ousmane Tanor Dieng , were far behind. The need for a runoff was recognized by Wade's spokesman two days after the election.

The runoff election took place on March 25th. On the evening of the election, Wade admitted his defeat and congratulated Sall on his victory over the phone. According to the official final result announced on March 30th, Sall received 65.8% of the vote with a turnout of 55%.

Main candidates

• Abdoulaye Wade , 85, incumbent President of Senegal since 2001. Wade was the main opposition leader for 30 years against the former socialist state party of Senegal, Parti Socialiste du Sénégal , and was imprisoned several times for his convictions. After several unsuccessful attempts, he won the presidential election in 2000 . During his reign he promoted the modernization of Senegal and the removal of the country from its dependence on France. However, his opponents accuse him of betraying the old democratic ideals, an increasing tendency towards megalomania and autocratic rule, corruption and nepotism .
• Macky Sall , 51, was Energy Secretary, Home Secretary, Prime Minister, and Speaker of Parliament under Wade from 2000 to 2008. Break with the President after bringing the President's son to a hearing. Suspected corruption. Today Sall is a member of the Alliance pour la République (APR-Yaakaar)
• Moustapha Niasse , 72, Senegal's foreign minister in the 1990s, and Prime Minister under Wade in 2000, later broke with both Wade's Parti Démocratique Sénégalaise and the former state party Parti Socialiste du Sénégal. He is a candidate for the opposition coalition Bennoo Siggil Sénégal .
• Idrissa Seck , 52, former Wade supporter and former Prime Minister. In the 2007 election, Wade's most dangerous opponent, head of the Rewmi party .
• Ousmane Tanor Dieng , 65, is General Secretary of the Parti Socialiste du Sénégal , which ruled the country from the year of independence in 1960 until 2000. Dieng already held offices under the founding president Léopold Senghor .

photo	candidate	Political party	Result 2007	1st round 2012		2nd round 2012
				be right	%
	Abdoulaye Wade	Parti Démocratique Sénégalais	55.90%	942 327	34.81%	34.20%
	Macky Sall	APR-Yaakaar , member of M 23	supported calf	719 367	26.58%	65.80%
	Moustapha Niasse	Bennoo Siggil Sénégal ("United for Senegal")	5.93%	357 330	13.20%
	Ousmane Tanor Dieng	Parti Socialiste du Sénégal	13.56%	305 924	11.30%
	Idrissa Seck	Rewmi	14.92%	212 853	7.86%
	Cheikh Bamba Dièye	Benno Jubël	0.50%	52 196	1.93%
	Ibrahima case			48 972	1.81%
	Cheikh Tidiane Gadio	Louy Jot Jotna	supported calf	26 655	0.98%
	Mor Dieng	YAAKAAR ("Party of Hope")		11 402	0.42%
	Djibril Ngom			10 207	0.38%
	Oumar Khassimou Dia	Parti humaniste Naxx Jarinu		6 469	0.24%
	Amsatou Sow Sidibé	CAR Lennen		5 167	0.19%
	Doudou Ndoye	Union pour la République	0.29%	4 566	0.17%
	Diouma Dieng Diakhaté	Parti Initiative démocratique jogal		3 354	0.12%

Protests in the run-up to the first election round, M 23 and Bennoo Siggil Sénégal

The announcement of Wade's third candidacy triggered mass protests on June 23, 2011, which marked the birth of the opposition Mouvement du 23 Juin ("Movement of June 23"), or M 23 for short . The initiator of the M 23 and chairman of the African Association for the Defense of Human Rights (Raddho), Alioune Tine, was arrested in January 2012. The opposition movement also includes the Bennoo Siggil Sénégal ("United for Senegal") coalition consisting of the socialist party and other socialist and communist parties, which calls for the formation of a transitional government to draft a new constitution and the organization of new elections. Protests broke out on the night of January 29 when it became known that Wade's third candidacy had been accepted. One policeman was killed during the protests.

Controversial candidacy of Wade

Abdoulaye Wade has been in office since the 2000 presidential election and was re- elected in 2007 in an election criticized by the opposition. The new Senegalese constitution, introduced in 2001 under the presidency of Wade, only allowed two terms of office of five years each - in contrast to the previous constitution, which allowed an unlimited number of seven-year terms. In 2008 the new constitution was changed again, since then two terms of office of seven years each have been the limit. Wade argued, however, that the new provision was introduced during his first term of office, that he is thus in the first term of office since it came into force and could therefore run again. Wade competes for the Parti Démocratique Sénégalais .

N'Dours candidacy rejected

The announcement of Youssou N'Dour's candidacy originally attracted more attention internationally than in his own home country. It was only when the country's constitutional judges rejected the candidacy (reason: of the 12,936 signatures that N'Dour had submitted, only 8,911 were valid) made N'Dour part of the youth protest movement "M23" ( Mouvement du 23 Juin ) of Senegal, which is based on the Arab Spring .

On February 21, N'Dour was injured in the leg in an unauthorized demonstration. He received medical treatment.

swell

1. ^ Protests in Senegal before the election - Explosion der Anger , taz.de, January 29, 2012
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Proclamation des résultats du 2eme tour du scrutin de l'élection présidentielle ( Memento of July 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), website of the Senegalese government, accessed on April 2, 2012 (French)
3. ^ Runoff election in Senegal - fear of a second Ivory Coast , taz.de, March 13, 2012
4. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17189318 accessed on February 28, 2012
5. ^ Runoff elections in Senegal - permanent President Wade admits defeat , Spiegel Online, March 26, 2012
6. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16905528 Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade's rise and rule, accessed February 28, 2012
7. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16815521 Senegal: How Abdoulaye Wade's star has faded, bbc.uk., accessed on February 28, 2012
8. ^ Taz article Macky sharpens the knife: Runoff election in Senegal, February 28, 2012
9. ↑ Article Senegal - Myths and Facts in Le monde diplomatique , February 2012, p. 10
10. ↑ Article Senegal - Myths and Facts in Le monde diplomatique , February 2012, p. 10
11. ↑ "L'intégralité de l'arrêt du Conseil constitutionnel du 27 janvier 2012": Publication de la liste des candidats à l'élection du président de la République du 26 février 2012 , Rewmi [1]
12. ↑ http://africanelections.tripod.com/sn.html#2012_Presidential_Election
13. ↑ Cf. Gierczynski-Bocandé, Ute: "Senegal after presidential and parliamentary elections 2012", in: KAS-Auslandsinformationen 10/2012, http://www.kas.de/wf/doc/kas_32483-544-1-30. pdf? 121027235412 Retrieved December 3, 2012.
14. ↑ Article Senegal - Myths and Facts in Le monde diplomatique , February 2012, p. 10
15. ↑ http://www.taz.de/!86581/
16. ↑ http://www.taz.de/!86581/
17. ↑ Youssou N'Dour injured in demonstration in Senegal. In: ORF . February 22, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012 .