Senegal President Macky Sall won re-election with 58 percent of votes cast in last Sunday’s poll, according to provisional results announced by the official counting body on Thursday.
The majority win hands Sall a second term without a run-off vote. Opposition candidate Idrissa Seck came second with 21 percent of votes, while Ousmane Sonko placed third with 16 percent.
Seck and Sonko have not yet commented on the National Vote Counting Commission’s results, which are preliminary until validated by the constitutional council. The candidates have 72 hours to register an appeal.
Sall, whom rights groups have criticized for squeezing out rivals, was tipped to win after a modernizing first term that propelled Senegal’s economic growth to more than six percent – one of the highest in Africa.
More than 66 percent of 6.7 million registered voters took part in the election.
