A Turbulence-Free Election in Senegal
Source: NY Times
The elderly president of this West African nation conceded defeat after elections here on Sunday, a rare example of a prompt and peaceful political turnover in a region tormented by coups and leaders who refuse to give up power.
For months, the president, Abdoulaye Wade, who has been in office since 2000, had appeared to be going the route of his regional peers in proclaiming his invincibility and seeking a third term in defiance of a constitutional limit of two.
But that quest appears to have failed. The Senegalese Press Agency reported Sunday night that Mr. Wade had called his opponent, Macky Sall, a onetime protégé of his and a former prime minister, to congratulate him on his apparent victory at around 9:30 p.m. local time.
The seaside neighborhood around Mr. Sall’s house rang out with the cheers of his supporters, loud horns and blaring music. State television — hitherto a propaganda machine for Mr. Wade — showed scenes of jubilant crowds packing the streets downtown here in the capital to celebrate Mr. Sall’s victory.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/world/africa/president-concedes-race-in-senegal.html
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