Senegal poll largely peaceful- EU Observers

Senegal’s election was ‘‘quite positive with very few incidents’‘, the EU observer mission has said.

Senegal voted on Sunday in an election President Macky Sall was expected to win following strong economic growth in his first term.

Elena Valenciano is Head of Electoral Observer Mission at the European Union.

“Amongst the polling stations that were observed by our mission, the general view from our monitors is quite positive with regards to the control of the administration and of guarantees for the voters, as well as the performance of the administrators and the voters ability to choose, to make their choice. It must also be noted that there was very, very little violence, very isolated incidents, which is very, very good news for these elections in Senegal”, she said.

But right groups have criticised Sall for squeezing out rivals.

It was not immediately clear how many of the country’s 6.5 million registered voters turned out.

Official results are expected on Friday March 1 with a run off for the top two on March 24 if no one secures an absolute majority.