Senegal opposition slams Wade's win
Thursday, March 1, 2007
SENEGAL'S opposition Socialist Party has cried foul over the outcome of a presidental election that has apparently swept Abdoulaye Wade back into a second term of office.
The socialists, who ruled the west African country for 40 years until Wade first defeated them in 2000, have alleged fraud was at play in last Sunday's poll and was set to challenge the results.
Provisional figures published by the official APS news agency late Tuesday gave the 80-year-old Wade 55.7 per cent of the votes cast in the first round of the election, more than enough to avoid a run-off round.
"A president who was not elected cannot lead the country," Aissata Tall Sall, a spokeswoman for Socialist leader Ousmane Tanor Dieng, one of Wade's main rivals said late Tuesday. "We will not accept these results," Sall told a press conference, stating the Socialist Party would contest them by whatever means "people judge appropriate". The country's electoral commission has yet formally to announce the outcome of the vote and declare Wade re-elected, but his prime minister and campaign manager has urged other candidates to accept defeat and his supporters have been celebrating since last Monday. "Wade was not elected," Sall said, describing the vote as "the most truncated elections of our history" since independence from France in 1960. "People must take up their responsibilities". The leader of a small opposition party, Bathily, said "these results do not reflect the feelings of the population".AFP
The socialists, who ruled the west African country for 40 years until Wade first defeated them in 2000, have alleged fraud was at play in last Sunday's poll and was set to challenge the results.
Provisional figures published by the official APS news agency late Tuesday gave the 80-year-old Wade 55.7 per cent of the votes cast in the first round of the election, more than enough to avoid a run-off round.
"A president who was not elected cannot lead the country," Aissata Tall Sall, a spokeswoman for Socialist leader Ousmane Tanor Dieng, one of Wade's main rivals said late Tuesday. "We will not accept these results," Sall told a press conference, stating the Socialist Party would contest them by whatever means "people judge appropriate". The country's electoral commission has yet formally to announce the outcome of the vote and declare Wade re-elected, but his prime minister and campaign manager has urged other candidates to accept defeat and his supporters have been celebrating since last Monday. "Wade was not elected," Sall said, describing the vote as "the most truncated elections of our history" since independence from France in 1960. "People must take up their responsibilities". The leader of a small opposition party, Bathily, said "these results do not reflect the feelings of the population".AFP
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