DAKAR, Senegal — Polls closed in Senegal on Sunday for a parliamentary election set to determine whether the country's newly elected president can carry out ambitious reforms.
More than 7 million registered voters in the West African country were choosing 165 lawmakers in the National Assembly, where the party of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye does not hold a majority.
Faye, who was elected in March on an anti-establishment platform, says that has blocked him from implementing the reforms he pledged during his campaign, including fighting corruption, reviewing fishing permits for foreign companies, and securing a bigger share from the country's natural resources for the population.
In September, he dissolved the opposition-led parliament, paving the way for a snap legislative election. His party is facing the Takku Wallu opposition platform led by former President Macky Sall, alongside 39 other registered parties and coalitions.
Polls opened at 8 a.m. and closed at 6 p.m. local time. The first provisional results were expected by Monday morning, but the final count will only be published later in the week.
Faye's political party, PASTEF, needs at least 83 seats in order to gain a majority in the assembly.
Analysts say it has a high chance of securing that, given its popularity and Faye's margin of victory in the March presidential election.
Faye, 44, was elected with 54% in the first round, becoming Africa's youngest elected leader, less than two weeks after he was released from prison. His rise has reflected widespread frustration among Senegal's youth with the country's direction — a common sentiment across Africa, which has the world's youngest population and a number of leaders accused of clinging to power for decades.