Opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye has won about 53.7% of votes in Senegal’s presidential election, with ruling coalition candidate Amadou Bataking 36.2%, the country’s electoral commission told Reuters on Monday.
The commission said those provisional results were based on vote tallies from 90% of polling stations.
Just a few months ago, the man set to be Senegal’s next president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, was sitting in a prison cell, a relatively unknown figure outside his opposition party Pastef.
Everything changed for him when the party’s firebrand leader, Ousmane Sonko, who was also detained, was charged with insurrection in July and barred from running in elections to succeed President Macky Sall.
That cleared the way for Faye to emerge from the shadow of his former boss and eventually from prison, take over the race and on Monday, the day of his 44th birthday, emerged as victor after his opponent conceded defeat.
