Opinion: How opposition parties can win unfair elections – lessons from Senegal and beyond

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The victory of Senegal’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye in a fundamentally flawed election reflects a much wider experience, with lessons that opposition leaders in other countries can learn from.

, Ousmane Sonko and their movement was celebrated by opposition leaders across Africa. For Ugandan stalwart Kizza Besigye, events in Senegal demonstrated that it is possible to “non-violently achieve” democratic transitions on the continent. One reason Faye’s win was so inspiring was that, like so many opposition victories in Africa, it occurred in an election that was anything but free and fair.

…broad coalitions generate a sense of inclusion that lends credibility to opposition promises to deliver real change. While some opposition parties reject ethnic and populist mobilisation on the basis that the former is bad for the country and the latter is bad for the economy, marrying the two can have powerful effects.won over 80% of the vote in the Casamance area where Sonko grew up, but also polled well in urban areas such as the capital, Dakar.

Combining rural and urban support is not always easy. The policies that will help rural agricultural producers are likely to be in tension with those demanded by urban workers. Moreover,imply that leaders will not favour their own community, which can undermine ethnic/regional mobilisation.

 

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