Bassirou Diomaye Faye: From prison to Senegal presidency
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00:00 First to Senegal where there have been celebrations and congratulations for anti-establishment
00:04 candidate Bassaru Demafay who looks set to have won Sunday's presidential election.
00:11 Despite a rocky run-up to the March 24th vote that featured a last-minute postponement to
00:16 the original February 25th date, protests, a reversal by the constitutional court and
00:21 serious concerns about the state of Senegalese democracy and its institutions, the country
00:28 looks set for another peaceful straightforward handover of power as the ruling coalition's
00:33 candidate and President Macky Sall have already commended Demafay on his apparent wit.
00:40 Our Sam Bradpiece tells us more about him.
00:47 Bassaru Demafay went into the presidential election arguably as the most radical candidate
00:53 on the ballot.
00:55 It's remarkable to think that less than two weeks ago the 44-year-old was still behind
01:00 bars awaiting trial for accusations including insulting a magistrate.
01:06 He began his career as an official at the National Tax Inspectorate here in Senegal
01:11 where he became close to another employee, Ousmane Sonko, who went on to become a really
01:16 important figure in the country's political scene.
01:20 Even Ousmane Sonko was sidelined from the presidential race because he was facing a
01:24 slew of legal problems but Sérgio Demafay was essentially presented as a plan B.
01:31 Among his policies include withdrawing Senegal from the CFA franc, a colonial era currency,
01:38 which he argues as a sovereignist, was set up essentially to benefit France rather than
01:43 to benefit the Senegalese people.
01:46 Other policies of his include renegotiating contracts with the big oil and gas companies
01:52 which are set to begin extracting those natural resources off the coast of Senegal later this
01:58 year.
01:59 His platform has clearly done a lot to capture the imagination of the country's electorate,
02:04 particularly the young, and he looks set to become the youngest president in Senegalese
02:10 history.
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