Parliamentary elections were held in Senegal on 17 November 2024 following the early dissolution of the National Assembly by president Bassirou Diomaye Faye.[1] The decision to dissolve the Assembly came during a politically tense period, with Faye seeking a stronger mandate for his administration’s policies amid growing economic challenges and increasing public demands for reform.
The election resulted in a decisive victory for Faye's party PASTEF, which won an absolute majority in the National Assembly with 130 of the 165 seats. The main opposition coalition, Takku Wallu Sénégal, managed to secure 16 seats, while Jàmm ak Njariñ took 7 seats.
Background
On 12 September 2024, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dissolved the National Assembly and ordered snap elections for the chamber on 17 November. Faye, who took office on 2 April, and his prime minister, Ousmane Sonko, had previously been in conflict with the opposition-controlled legislature and accused the latter of blocking his proposed reforms and budget.[2]
Electoral system
The 165 members of the National Assembly are elected by two methods; 112 are elected by either first-past-the-post or party bloc vote in single- or multi-member constituencies based on the 46 departments (15 seats are elected by overseas diaspora voters).[3] The other 53 seats are elected from a nationwide constituency by proportional representation, with seats allocated initially using the simple quotient, with remaining seats allocated using the largest remainder method.[4]
Several incidents of violence were reported during the election. On 28 October 2024, unidentified persons attacked the headquarters of an opposition party in Dakar and started a fire. On 30 October, Sonko and Faye's party PASTEF said that Sonko's convoy was pelted with stones during a campaign sortie in Koungheul, injuring former minister Malick Gakou [fr], who is the concurrent leader of an allied party. In response, opposition MP Fanta Sall said that armed “strongmen” acting on behalf of PASTEF had attacked opposition activists.[7][8] On 12 November, Sonko tweeted that attacks against PASTEF supporters would lead to them exercising a "legitimate right to respond", but later retracted his statement and urged calm in a speech later that day.[9]
According to provisional results, PASTEF won in a large majority of polling stations,[11] and were the most-voted for party in 40 of the 46 departments and seven of the eight diaspora constituencies.[12] Following the announcement of the results, Amadou Ba and Barthélémy Dias [fr], who led separate opposition coalitions, conceded defeat.[13]Takku Wallu Sénégal leader and former president Macky Sall accused PASTEF of organising "massive fraud",[14] but later conceded defeat.[15] On 22 November the National Commission confirmed the official results, with PASTEF winning 130 of the 165 seats.[16] This was the largest majority obtained by a single party in a legislative election in Senegal since 1988.[17]
