Africa

The new constitution also increases presidential terms from five to six years. The almost 20-years that Gnassingbe has served in office, after taking over from his father, would not count toward that tally.
The opposition and the clergy say the legislation is an effort by Gnassingbe to prolong his rule. Some have promised to stop it from becoming law by calling on the people to rise up and protest.

President-elect Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s release from prison followed a political amnesty granted just in time for the balloting. He was little known until popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who was barred from running due to a prior conviction, chose Faye to run in his place.

The DA has banded together with smaller parties to try to capture the more than 50 per cent of the vote needed to take power. They include the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party, long a bitter rival of the ANC, as well as Freedom Front Plus, which appeals to rural white South Africans who feel politically marginalised since the fall of apartheid, and Action SA, which has built a platform on a tough anti-immigration stance and appeals to working- and middle-class voters.

South Africa’s May 29 elections are expected to be highly contested with the ANC, once led by anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, under pressure to remain in power following declining support in successive elections as the country faces stagnant economic growth, high levels of poverty among its Black majority, and an unemployment rate of over 32 per cent.

Recent votes in Nigeria, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo saw losing candidates reject the results. The next major test for democracy on the continent will be the parliamentary vote in South Africa on May 29, where the ANC is expected to lose its majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Senegal’s President-elect Bassirou Diomay Faye’s roots lie in a small town in central Senegal. He is a practising Muslim and has two wives. Ahead of Sunday’s election, Faye published a declaration of his assets, and called on other candidates to do the same. It lists a home in Dakar, and land outside the capital and in his hometown. His bank accounts hold roughly $6,600.

Faye’s expected victory reflected frustration among youth with high unemployment and concerns about governance in the West African nation. Faye, backed by popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, has vowed to protect Senegal from corruption and interference from foreign powers like former colonial master France.