Senegal’s Faye Heads for Parliamentary Majority in Test for Reform Agenda
(Bloomberg) -- Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye looks set to secure a parliamentary majority that will enable him to implement reforms needed to stabilize the nation’s finances.
Most Read from Bloomberg
In Cleveland, a Forgotten Streetcar Bridge Gets a Long-Awaited Lift
Amtrak Wins $300 Million to Fix Its Unreliable NJ-to-NYC Service
With counting under way after Sunday’s election and official results yet to be released, opposition candidates including Dakar Mayor Barthelemy Dias and Amadou Ba congratulated Faye’s Pastef party for securing a majority. Radio Futurs Medias, a closely held broadcaster, said Pastef obtained 84 seats in the vote.
Faye needs 83 seats to control the legislature. His party previously held 29 seats. The official results are expected to be announced this week.
Faye is seeking control over the National Assembly to deliver on his ambitious reform agenda, eight months after winning presidential polls by a landslide. The 44-year-old former tax inspector came to power pledging economic and judicial reforms and calling for a review of oil and gas contracts to increase the state’s share of revenue from its natural resources.
“The ruling party’s victory will ensure an alignment of executive and legislative, and also allow the party to introduce reforms that it promised,” said Mucahid Durmaz, senior analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft. A Pastef victory will also be welcomed by financial markets, with investors “keen to see political and economic stability established in Senegal,” he said.
Senegal bonds were among best performing in emerging markets on Monday, with yields on the securities due in May 2033 down 8 basis points to 9% — the lowest since Oct. 28
Faye needs the legislature’s backing to pass next year’s budget, rein in a fiscal deficit estimated at more than 10% of gross domestic product and lay the groundwork for a new International Monetary Fund program. His administration has previously struggled to move reforms through a legislature still dominated by lawmakers loyal to his predecessor, Macky Sall.
Sall’s coalition on Sunday alleged there had been irregularities in the election including ballot-box stuffing in one locality and insufficient voting materials in another.
Sall acknowledged Pastef’s win in a statement on X on Monday, saying “the population have clearly expressed their opinion, confirming once again their political maturity, their attachment to republican values and democracy.”
--With assistance from Colleen Goko, Mike Cohen and Gordon Bell.
(Updates with bonds in sixth paragraph, ex-president’s comments in ninth.)
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Trump’s Impossible Task: Delivering for the Working Class and Billionaires
FedEx’s CEO Is Charting His Own Path—in the Smith Family’s Shadow
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
