PASTEF claims 85% of votes in Bignona and backs Sonko
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Senego
In Sindian, in Senegal’s Bignona department, PASTEF official Vieux Souleymane Goudiaby defended the party’s roots and presented the department as an Ousmane Sonko stronghold. He claimed an 85% score in the last legislative elections and forecast up to 95% in the next elections, according to Senego.
PASTEF leaders in Bignona claimed that the party won 85% of the votes in the last legislative elections in this department in southern Senegal. They reaffirmed their support for Ousmane Sonko on Saturday at a rally held in Sindian, as activists join President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s KIIRAAY party, according to Senego.
Vieux Souleymane Goudiaby, speaking on behalf of the rally’s sponsors, said voters had chosen Sonko for his political project and not because of his origins in Bignona. He rejected the idea that defections to KIIRAAY had weakened PASTEF’s presence and warned that, in his view, no manoeuvre could prevent Sonko from standing in the 2029 presidential election. He predicted a score of 92% to 95% for Bignona’s “patriots” in the next elections.
Minister Yankhoba Diémé, PASTEF’s departmental coordinator, for his part described Bignona as a stronghold of the party, where his team had recorded no electoral defeat since his appointment. He defended this presence after a tour from Diouloulou to Kabadio, marked by meetings with religious authorities and a welcome from activists accompanied by traditional masked performers.
This claim comes after KIIRAAY announced that 402 of Senegal’s 558 mayors had joined it on 18 October. It also comes amid disagreement between Sonko’s positions and those of the government over Senegal’s alignment with the IMF, denounced by the PASTEF leader on 19 October.
