In a speech to the media after winning the majority of votes in last Sunday’s elections, the political neophyte expressed his gratitude to the Senegalese people.
Faye is set to be officially declared president after his main rival called him to admit defeat. He thanked President Macky Sall and the other candidates for respecting Senegalese democratic tradition by recognizing his victory well before the official results.
“By electing me, the Senegalese people have decided to break with the past,” Faye said in her first public appearance since the elections. “I promise to govern with humility and transparency.”
Provisional results showed Faye getting around 53.7% of the vote and Amadou Ba – from the current ruling coalition – around 36.2%, based on counts from 90% of polling stations in the first round, said the electoral commission.
Both Ba and Sall congratulated Faye, who celebrated her 44th birthday on Monday. They hailed these results as a victory for Senegal, whose reputation as an exemplary democracy in West Africa had been tarnished by Sall’s postponement of the vote.
“The Senegalese people have strengthened the good health of our democracy… I wish him (Faye) success at the head of our country,” Ba said.