Seven million Senegalese are electing a new president

(Patria) - After weeks of political unrest, Senegal is voting for a new president.

Seventeen candidates hope to replace President Macky Sall, who is barred from running again after reaching the two-term limit, BBC reported.

The elections were supposed to be held last month, but Sall postponed them, triggering deadly opposition protests and a democratic crisis. Senegal had previously been praised as a bastion of democracy in West Africa.

Seven million people are eligible to vote in Sunday's elections.

Among those competing for Senegal's top job is the ruling coalition BBY's candidate, former Prime Minister Amadou Ba (62).

His strongest opponent is Bassirou Diomaye Faye (44), who was released from prison only last week, after being held since April 2023 on charges of insurrection, which he said were politically motivated.

The popular Ousmane Sonko, who was also in prison until last week on what he called fabricated charges, has not been allowed to compete. He and his now-dissolved Pastef party support his close ally, Faye.

On Friday, former president Abdoulaye Wade and his PDS party gave their support to Faye, after his son Karim Wade was forced to withdraw due to his dual French-Senegalese citizenship.

For the first time in more than a decade, a female candidate is in the running. Anta Babacar Ngom (40) leads the ARC party.

Results are expected in a few days, and a second round is likely due to the large number of candidates.

A candidate needs more than 50% of the votes to be declared the winner.