Pastef wins overwhelming majority in the legislature, securing 130 of 165 seats. Sall’s coalition wins only 16 seats. Turnout was nearly 50%.

Parliamentary elections. Former presidential rivals, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and ex-President Macky Sall, compete for control of the 165-seat National Assembly. Four major coalitions dominate the race, including the opposition Takku Wallu, backed by Sall. Unemployment, inflation, and recent flooding have fueled discontent. Sall, campaigning remotely from Morocco, accuses Faye's administration of reversing his economic progress. Faye's government blames the opposition's prior mismanagement and lack of parliamentary support for delays in delivering reforms. Faye’s Pastef party has a strong chance of securing a majority, given Sonko’s active engagement with voters nationwide.

Faye dissolves parliament and calls for new elections on 11/17. PASTEF is believed to have a good chance of securing a majority.

Presidential election. Faye is declared the winner on 3/25 with about 54% of the vote. Ba has about 36%.

Ousmane Sonko and Bassirou Diomaye Faye released from jail.

Election scheduled for 3/24, though some candidates have petitioned for a delay, saying the election process was flawed. Main candidates include Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a 49-year-old tax inspector who is the candidate of an opposition coalition that includes members of the dissolved PASTEF (African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity) party of Ousmane Sonko. Faye has been in preventive detention since April, but is expected to be released soon. Faye has called for the establishment of a new national currency; the renegotiation of contracts between the government and corporations in sectors ranging from energy and mining to fishing; and a reduction of presidential powers, including the reintroduction of the vice presidency. He has also pledged to equally distribute profits out of a gasfield that is expected to start production this year. Another major candidate is former prime minister Amadou Ba, candidate of Sall’s Alliance for the Republic party, who is seen as a continuation of the old policies. A third is Khalifa Sall, Dakar’s two-time mayor (no relation to the president), who advocates sustainable development. There are 19 candidates in all.

Sall announces plan for general amnesty of protestors. However, he has not set a date for new elections despite the court ruling.

Constitutional court voids the government’s postponement of elections and the National Assembly’s vote to schedule them to 12/15, saying the orders were unconstitutional.

Sall announces delay of election scheduled for 2/25. He says he will hold a national dialogue “to bring together the conditions for a free, transparent and inclusive election in a peaceful and reconciled Senegal.” He does not announce a new date for elections. Last month the Constitutional Council excluded some prominent opposition members from the election. There are violent protests in the streets. The legislature will vote on a proposal to delay the election for up to six months.

Karim Wade, the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) candidate is officially released from his French nationality by the French prime minister, thus allowing his candidacy to proceed.

Prime Minister Amadou Bâ nominated for president by the ruling party in the election scheduled for 2/25/24. He is Sall’s chosen successor.

Sonko is charged with plotting an insurrection and other anti-government charges after being arrested on 7/29, at home, where he was serving his sentence for immoral behavior and rape.

Birame Souleye Diop, an opponent of President Sall, is charged with offending Sall when Diop suggested that Sall might renege on his rejection of running for president in the 2024 election.

At least fifteen people have died in protests, which continue.

Sonko’s supporters protest in the streets. Some of the protests have been violent.

Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko is convicted of rape and a separate charge of “immoral behavior” and sentenced to two years in jail.

Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko to face charges of rape.

Sall names Amadou Ba prime minister, the first since 9/2019. Ba has been foreign minister and finance minister.

Fighting breaks out when the legislative assembly meets to elect a president. Amadou Mame Diop, a member of the ruling coalition, was elected, though the vote was boycotted by the main opposition parties, Yewwi Askan wii and Wallu Senegal, which failed to name a single candidate.

In results from the 7/31 election, the ruling coalition led by Macky Sall maintains its majority in parliament, but only by a single vote, after one opposition deputy, Pape Diop, former president of the National Assembly and Senate, joins the coalition. Diop says he did so to avoid “a blockage in the functioning of institutions.” Sall’s coalition will have 83 of 165 seats and the opposition 80.

The Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance agrees to a peace deal pledging to lay down its arms in order to work towards a permanent solution.

Legislative elections. Both the opposition (Yewwi Askan Wi and Wallu Senegal) and the ruling party claim victory the next day. However, the head of the ruling coalition list, Aminata Touré, says his group has won 30 of the 46 departments, which will give them a majority in the legislature, while acknowledging that the opposition won Dakar.

Demonstrations by the opposition, led by Yewwi Askan Wi coalition leader Ousmane Sonko, after supreme court affirms Interior Minister Antoine Diome’s ruling that the electoral lists of both the ruling party and the opposition coalition were “inadmissible” for the 7/31 election.

The Yewwi Askan Wi (Liberate the People in Wolof) coalition of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who came third in the 2019 presidential election, and the Wallu Sénégal (Save Senegal in Wolof) coalition of former president Abdoulaye Wade unite in order to win the next parliamentary elections. In 2017, the coalition backed by president Macky Sall won 125 seats out of the 165. The election is scheduled for 7/31/22.

The Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance, MFDC, returns seven Senegalese soldiers captured earlier. The MFDC is a low-intensity separatist group in the southern region of Casamance.

Ruling coalition loses badly in local elections.

Sonko is released on bail, but protests continue.

At least five people have been killed in protests about the arrest of Sonko. Sall is urged to engage in dialogue with the opposition.

Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko is arrested for participating in a march to the court where he was to be tried for rape, a charge he says is politically motivated.

After violent protests against stay-at-home order, the government says it will relax the restrictions.

Parliament approves elimination of prime minister’s office.

Prime ministership to be eliminated.

Macky Sall’s re-election announced. He won 58% of the vote. Idrissa Seck was second with 21%. The opposition believes that challenging the vote would be futile.

Idrissa Sall and Ousmane Sonko condemn Macky Sall’s victory claim.

Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, a Sall supporter, claims that Sall has won election outright, although returns are not complete. Opposition claims that a second round will be necessary. Full results are expected before 3/1.

In addition to Macky Sall (Party of Hope Coalition, BBR) and former prime minister Idrissa Seck of Rewmi party, El Hadj Issa Sall (PUR), Madické Niang (Independent), and Ousmane Sonko, PASTEF (Patriots of Senegal for Ethics, Work and Fraternity, also known as PASTEF les Patriotes.

Former president Abdoulaye Wade calls for the cancellation of 2/24 election due to suppression of opposition, and for peaceful protests against system.

Issa Sall, president of the University of the Sahel and head of the Parti de l’Unité et de la Rassemblement (PUR), announces candidacy for president for election 2/24. Macky Sall (no relation to Issa Sall or Khalifa Sall) is expected to win reelection easily, given that his two main opponents, Dakar Mayor Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, son of former president Abdoulaya Wade, have been on corruption charges and are not eligible to run. Some have said these convictions are political in origin.

Police block a protest march against new election rule and the Constitutional Court decision blocking some opposition leaders from running in February election.

Pres Macky Sall is named presidential candidate of the governing coalition. Two major opposition figures, former Minister Karim Wade and former Dakar mayor, Khalifa Sall will be unable to contest the election due to convictions.

Attack in Casamance province, perhaps by MFDC rebel group, which wants independence.