By 
DAKAR – After weeks of political unrest, people in Senegal are voting for a new president.
Seventeen candidates are on the ballot, each hoping to replace President Macky Sall who was barred from running again after reaching the two-term limit.
The BBC reported that the election had been due to take place last month but Sall postponed it, triggering deadly opposition protests and a democratic crisis.
Senegal had until then been praised as a bastion of democracy in West Africa.
Seven million people are eligible to vote in Sunday’s election and among those in the running for Senegal’s top job was the governing BBY coalition’s candidate, former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, 62.
His strongest challenger was seen as Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, who was released from jail just last week, after being detained since April 2023 on charges of insurrection, which he said were politically motivated.
Popular firebrand Ousmane Sonko, who was also imprisoned until last week on what he said were trumped-up charges, is not allowed to stand.
He and his now-disbanded Pastef party are backing his close ally, Faye.
On Friday, former President Abdoulaye Wade and his PDS party threw their support behind Mr Faye, after his own son Karim Wade was forced to withdraw over his dual French-Senegalese citizenship.
For the first time in over a decade, a female candidate is in the race. Anta Babacar Ngom, 40, leads the ARC party.
Results are expected within days and a second round was likely, because of the large number of contestants.
A candidate needs more than 50 percent of the vote to be declared the winner.
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