It has been a long night of celebration in Senegal- Africa's westernmost nation - which is set to have a new leader after incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade phoned his opponent Macky Sall to concede defeat in a presidential run-off on Sunday.
Motorists have been hooting and speeding away, with passengers leaning out and showing the victory sign. Many converged on the Place de l'Obelisk, a square in the capital Dakar, which was the scene of several confrontations between the police and (mainly) young opponents of Wade's bid to run for another term in office.
The protests didn't stop Wade from contesting the elections. But he fell short of winning an absolute majority in the first round held in February. About 65 percent of voters had voted for the plethora of opposition candidates who were running against Wade. He therefore had to face Sall, his former Prime Minister, (who came second in the first-round) in a run-off. When all the opposition candidates rallied behind Sall before Sunday's run-off, it looked like Wade was on his way out.
This became even more certain as preliminary results began flooding in from polling stations abroad and within Senegal. The fact that the victory margins were so wide in favour of Sall (including the polling station where Wade voted), caused hundreds of opposition supporters to start jubilating on the streets barely an hour after polling stations closed.
Approximately three and a half hours after the end of polling in Senegal, Wade phoned Sall to concede defeat. When this was announced on State TV, celebrations reached their climax on the streets of Dakar. I could still hear sirens, horns, whistles and loud music as late (or early?) as 2a.m.
"The people of Senegal are the big winners," Sall told a news conference in a Dakar hotel late in the night. "We have proven to the world that our democracy has come of age," he added.
Sall saluted those who lost their lives in a bid to maintain Senegal's democracy (certainly referring to people who died during clashes with security forces prior to the first round of elections).
He said a new era had started in Senegal and called on all Senegalese to work together to lift up the country.
Wade's supporters have chosen to highlight his decision to swiftly admit defeat saying it shows him as a responsible democrat.
“We have been in the opposition before. We know what it means. We will learn from our defeat today to prepare our future victories,” one of his supporters told Walf TV, a local television channel.
Ah...finally Wade is out of the picture. Not that I hate the old man, just that we did not see guns and fights in the streets like we are seeing in Mali.
Congratulations Senegal, now would you please sort out your National Football team. Hehehehe.
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