VZCZCXRO2805
OO RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #0479 0610800
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 020800Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7700
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS DAKAR 000479 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL/AE AND INR/AA 
PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINS KDEM SG
SUBJECT: SENEGAL: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SITREP 5: PROVISIONAL 
RESULTS 
 
REF: DAKAR 0450 AND PREVIOUS 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
¶1.  (SBU) With the announcement of provisional election results, 
Senegal's voters gave incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade a 
comfortable victory.  He won in 32 two of Senegal's 34 departments, 
gaining a national majority of 55.72 per cent with a vote tally of 
1,873,907.  With 70 percent turnout, the results underscore the 
strength of Senegal's long democratic tradition -- plus the power of 
incumbency, patronage and money.  END SUMMARY. 
 
LANDSLIDE VICTORY 
----------------- 
¶2.  (U) Provisional results published by departmental committees 
show that President Wade won all but two of Senegal's 34 
departments.  The Department of Thies was taken by former Prime 
Minister Idrissa Seck and that of Nioro was won by former Prime 
Minister Moustapha Niasse. 
 
FIGURES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES 
---------------------------- 
¶3.  (U) Out of a total of 3,414,771 votes cast, Senegalese 
Democratic Party (PDS) leader Wade won 1,873,907 (55.79 per cent); 
Idriss Seck received 503,493 (14.99 per cent); Socialist Party 
leader Ousmane Tanor Dieng was third with 459,513 votes (13.68 per 
cent); and Moustapha Niasse came in fourth with 198,523 votes (5.91 
per cent).  Four middleweight candidates received a combined 
percentage of 7.25 percent of the vote with Socialist Mayor of 
Ziguinchor Robert Sagna taking 2.61 percent, followed by Abdoulaye 
Bathily with 2.2 percent, Landing Savane with 1.9 percent, and Talla 
Sylla with 0.54 percent. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Even in the troubled Casamance region the electorate voted 
to re-elect Wade despite his facing off against the charismatic 
Sagna.  In a surprise result, Sagna only received 25 per cent of the 
vote in his hometown, while Wade won 58.7 per cent.  Turnout in the 
Casamance was affected by rebel attacks on February 24 that left one 
soldier dead and 13 wounded and some polling places without election 
materials. 
 
FINAL RESULTS COULD TAKE ANOTHER WEEK 
------------------------------------- 
¶5.  (U) The departmental results will now be scrutinized by the 
National Vote Count Commission, which has until March 2 to provide 
final results to the Constitutional Court.  If one or more 
candidates contest the results, the Court has until March 10 to 
review them and render a definitive result. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶6.  (SBU) Although the Socialists and Bathily are claiming massive 
fraud to provide some explanation for their resounding defeat, the 
U.S., other international and national observers view the election 
as free and fair albeit disorganized.  Organizational problems 
favored no particular candidate, and the 70 percent turnout was 
impressive both for its size and for the patience that it required. 
If anything, the results again underscore the strength of Senegal's 
long democratic tradition -- plus the power of incumbency, patronage 
and money.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶7.  (U) Visit Embassy Dakar's classified website at 
http://www.state.sgov/gov/p/af/dakar/. 
 
JACOBS