Bassirou Diomaye Faye: five things to know about the new president of Senegal

The Senegalese elected a radical opponent, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, to succeed Macky Sall. Winner in the first round of the presidential election, ahead of the candidate of power, he received the congratulations of his opponents and the outgoing president, even before the publication of the results of the vote of March 24, 2024. Officially, he received 54, 28% of the votes far ahead of Amadou Ba, Sall’s runner-up, who came 2nd with 35.79%. Here are 5 things to know about the man who becomes, at 44, the 5th president of Senegal.

1. Tax inspector

Graduated in Law then in financial administration after his baccalaureate obtained in 2000, Bassirou Diomaye Faye worked as a tax inspector from 2007. During his career, he joined the tax administration union created and managed at the time by Ousmane Sonko with whom he will later enter politics, from 2014. By becoming President of the Republic, Bassirou Diomaye Faye will be the first Senegalese trained at the National School of Administration, to occupy the supreme office of the ‘State. And this without having held any previous political function.

2. Youngest president of Senegal

Destiny or coincidence of the calendar, Bassirou Diomaye Faye born on March 25, 1980, was elected president of his country on the eve of his birthday. At 44, he became the youngest President of the Republic that Senegal has ever known. For comparison, Abdoulaye Wade, who achieved the first democratic change in Senegal in 2000, was 74 years old at the time and had behind him at least 20 years of political activism against Senghor then Diouf. In 2000, the successor of Macky Sall was just 20 years old.

3. Lining by Ousmane Sonko

It is difficult to talk about the election of Bassirou Diomaye Faye without mentioning Ousmane Sonko, the leader of the dissolved African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (Pastef) party. The two men began the political struggle in 2014 with the creation of this left-wing party which quickly won over the electorate. With a score of 15%, its president, Ousmane Sonko, was the third man in the 2019 presidential election. A status that propelled him as the true opponent of President Macky Sall’s power. Since March 2021, the legal proceedings against him have fueled political tension in Senegal.

Several episodes of the standoff with power have set Dakar and other cities in the country ablaze, with dozens of deaths as a result. Disqualified for the presidential election, Ousmane Sonko, then imprisoned, endorses the candidacy of his right-hand man, also detained since May 2023. Which earns Bassirou Diomaye Faye to be qualified as plan B or substitute candidate. The two men benefited from the amnesty law adopted by parliament on the eve of the opening of the electoral campaign. Released from prison while the campaign was already in full swing, they will rouse the crowds with a slogan that describes their tandem: “Diomaye is Sonko; Sonko is Diomaye”.

4. Left Pan-Africanist

Anti-system candidate, that is to say not from the traditional political class, Bassirou Diomaye Faye claims to be a “left-wing pan-Africanism”. In candidature “is underpinned by the desire to propose a political offer for the reappropriation of national sovereignty in terms of management of natural resources, diplomacy, defense and security”. Advocating a break with the current political and economic order, he does not exclude Senegal’s exit from the CFA franc, for example while calling for the consolidation of ECOWAS achievements. “I appeal to our African brothers and sisters so that together we consolidate the gains obtained in the processes of building integration in ECOWAS, while correcting weaknesses and changing certain methods, strategies and political priorities,” he declared, Monday March 25, 2024 the day after the vote, after his main opponents recognized their defeat.

The reform of Senegal’s institutions and the fight against corruption are other essential points of the “Project for a sovereign, just and prosperous Senegal” worn by Bassirou Diomaye Faye. The powers of the president should be reduced and those of the other powers, legislative and judicial, strengthened according to his commitments. To demonstrate his commitment to managing with transparency, he published his asset declaration during the election campaign. The one-page document mentions, for example, that he owns two used cars and a house or that he is in debt to the bank and to a friend for a cumulative amount of 48 million CFA francs. .

Dear compatriots

As we announced to you, please find below our declaration of assets based on our best assessment. 1/3#LoxoYuSet#DiomayeMooySonko#DiomayePresident#BDF2024 pic.twitter.com/z6tm9A8slT

— Bassirou Diomaye Faye Official (@DiomayeFaye) March 22, 2024

5. Polygamous

The new president of Senegal is polygamous. He appeared during the electoral campaign with his two wives, a situation certainly normal in the country where men are authorized by law to marry up to four wives but ultimately unprecedented for a Senegalese head of state. On social networks, this amuses some who are curious to know which of the two wives will be the First Lady of the first Senegalese president to be openly polygamous.

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