Senegal's Macky Sall won his West African country's presidential election with 65.80 percent of the vote, which European observers said on Tuesday was credible and trouble-free. Incumbent Abdoulaye Wade won 34.20 percent of the second-round vote. The results read out by Appeals Court President Demba Kandji on Tuesday confirmed Sall's victory over the Wade, who had conceded defeat within hours of polls closing on Sunday.
They showed that Sall, who has the backing of other opposition parties, was able to more than double his 26.6 percent score obtained in the first round, while Wade stayed near his 34.8 percent first-round score. Kandji said voter turnout was at about 55 percent of over 5 million registered voters.
Thijs Berman, head of the European Union's observer mission, which had over 90 observers in Senegal, said the campaign and election was trouble-free except for some minor incidents of vote buying and use of state resources by both sides. "It was a credible vote and the result was accepted by all," Berman told a news conference in Dakar, adding that he hoped Senegal's example would spur soldiers who staged a military take-over in Mali last week to go back to barracks. "This is a must because Africa is no longer in a era of coups," Berman said.
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