Senegal heads to polls for parliamentary elections

DOUALA, Cameroon

Local Senegalese citizens and the country’s diaspora voted in the country's general elections on Sunday to choose members of the 165-seat parliament to govern for the next five years.

Voting booths and polling stations opened at 0800GMT, with local media reporting a moderate turnout.

"There was no major incident until midway through the process, except for a slight delay in the opening of some polling stations," according to Senegal Vote, the West African country's national election platform.

At midday, local authorities reported that fewer than half of the voters in various cities had voted. Dakar, the capital city, had no more than 20% turnout, and most cities had less than that.

The total number of registered voters in a population of more than 16 million people is just over 7 million, with eight coalitions competing for National Assembly seats.

The National Assembly has 165 members, with 112 directly elected by plurality vote in single- and multi-seat constituencies, including 15 from the Senegalese diaspora, and 53 directly elected by proportional representation vote in single- and multi-seat constituencies.

"Beyond our individual choices, there is all we share as a united and solidary nation that we must preserve. It is the country's peace and security, stability, and territorial integrity," Macky Sall, Senegal's president and a member of the Alliance for the Republic (APR- Yaakaar), told reporters after voting.

For his main opponent, Ousmane Sonko, leader of the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics, and Fraternity (PASTEF) movement and a member of the coalition Yewwi Askan Wi, the elections represent a step toward Sall's exit from office, as he has 14 months left in his second presidential term.

"But first, he must be punished during these legislative elections so that he loses his majority in the National Assembly," he told journalists after voting.

The polling results are set to be announced on Sunday evening.