Senegal Businesses Brace For Assertive Policy After Fayes Landslide

In Senegals November legislative polls, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonkos PASTEF party won in a landslide, taking 130 of the 165 seats in parliament. They also won 40 of the 46 departments in the country, giving them the most significant victory in a Senegalese election since 1988.

The win puts the nail in the coffin of the divided and distinctly jaded opposition, whose leading light in the poll was former President Macky Sall, whose TWS coalition won just 16 seats, down from 83 in the last poll.

PASTEFs commanding election victory could have ramifications for businesses. Prior to the poll, President Faye and Sonko had struggled to make much of an impression. Despite Faye winning the March presidential election on a platform of change, little appeared to have radically changed between his first months in office and the previous administration of Sall.

But the failure to follow through on a series of campaign promises was likely linked to the limited mandate that PASTEF had in the national assembly, where it fell far short of a majority. Novembers election changed that.

President Faye now has a mandate to bring about real change and will face barely any resistance in parliament. The effect could be significant.