Senegal votes in election that will decide if president can carry out the reforms he promised

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Polls opened in Senegal on Sunday for a parliamentary election that is set to determine if the country’s newly elected president can carry out ambitious reforms.

More than 7 million registered voters in the West African country are choosing 165 lawmakers in the national assembly, where the party of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye currently does not hold a majority.

Faye, who was elected in March on an anti-establishment platform, says that has blocked him from executing the reforms he pledged during his campaign, including fighting corruption, reviewing fishing permits for foreign companies and securing a bigger share from the country’s natural resources for the population.

In September, he dissolved the opposition-led parliament, paving the way for a snap legislative election. His party is facing the Takku Wallu opposition platform led by former President Macky Sall, alongside 39 other registered parties and coalitions.

Polls will close at 6 p.m (1800 GMT). The first provisional results are expected to be known by Monday morning, but the final count will only be published later during the week.

Faye’s political party, PASTEF, needs at least 83 seats in order to gain a majority in the assembly. Analysts say it has a high chance of securing that, given its popularity and Faye's margin of victory in the March presidential election.

Faye, 44, was elected with 54% in the first round, becoming Africa’s youngest elected leader, less than two weeks after he was released from prison. His rise has reflected widespread frustration among Senegal’s youth with the country’s direction — a common sentiment across Africa, which has the world’s youngest population and a number of leaders accused of clinging to power for decades.

Over 60% of Senegalese are under 25 and 90% work in informal jobs. Senegal has been hit by skyrocketing inflation in recent years, making it difficult for them to get by.

The country is also a major source of irregular migration to Europe, with thousands leaving every year on rickety, artisanal fishing boats in search of economic opportunities.

The campaign for the legislative election was marked by sporadic clashes between supporters of different parties. The headquarters of an opposition party were set on fire in the capital, Dakar, and clashes have erupted between supporters in central Senegal in recent weeks, the interior ministry said Monday,

On Tuesday, Ousmane Sonko, the country’s prime minister who helped catapult Faye to victory, denounced attacks against supporters of PASTEF in Dakar and other cities.

“May each patriot they have attacked and injured be proportionally avenged. We will exercise our legitimate right to respond,” he wrote on X, before back-pedalling and asking his supporters to remain peaceful in a speech later that day.

Last month, Sonko’s vehicle was attacked with stones as clashes broke out between his supporters and unidentified attackers while he was campaigning in Koungueul, in the center of the country. The leader of an allied party, former minister Malick Gackou, had his arm broken in the incident, according to local media.

The presidential election in March tested Senegal’s reputation as a stable democracy in West Africa, a region rocked in recent years by coups and attempted coups.

Both Faye and Sonko were released from prison less than two weeks before the vote following a political amnesty announced by outgoing President Sall. Their arrests had sparked months of protests and concerns that Sall would seek a third term in office despite term limits. Rights groups said dozens were killed and about 1,000 were jailed.

A man collects voting cards, that are set on a table, before casting his vote for legislative elections at a polling station in Dakar, Senegal Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

A man has his identity verified before casting his vote during legislative elections in Dakar, Senegal Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

People wait to cast their ballot for legislative elections in Dakar, Senegal Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

A member of security forces stands guard as people wait to cast their votes outside a polling station during the legislative elections in Dakar, Senegal Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

A man casts his vote for legislative elections, at a polling station in Dakar, Senegal Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

People wait to cast their ballot for legislative elections in Dakar, Senegal Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

An electoral employee begins the assembly of a voting station for legislative elections in Dakar, Senegal Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

People line up to cast their ballot for legislative elections in Dakar, Senegal, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

FILE - Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye attends a press conference in Dakar, Senegal, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg, File)

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, according to excerpts released Sunday from an upcoming new book ahead of the pontiff's jubilee year.

It's the first time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. In September, he said Israel's attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been “immoral” and disproportionate, and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war.

The book, by Hernán Reyes Alcaide and based on interviews with the Pope, is entitled “Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims towards a better world." It will be released on Tuesday ahead of the pope's 2025 jubilee. Francis’ yearlong jubilee is expected to bring more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome to celebrate the Holy Year.

“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the pope said in excerpts published Sunday by the Italian daily La Stampa.

“We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies,” he added.

Last year, Francis met separately with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living through the war and set off a firestorm by using words that Vatican diplomats usually avoid: “terrorism” and, according to the Palestinians, “genocide.”

Francis spoke at the time about the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians after his meetings, which were arranged before the Israeli-Hamas hostage deal and a temporary halt in fighting was announced.

The pontiff, who last week also met with a delegation of Israeli hostages who were released and their families pressing the campaign to bring the remaining captives home had editorial control over the upcoming book.

The war started when the militant Hamas group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 as hostages and taking them back to Gaza, where dozens still remain.

Israel’s subsequent yearlong military campaign has killed more than 43,000 people, according to Gaza health officials, whose count doesn’t distinguish between civilians and fighters, though they say more than half of the dead are women and children.

The Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza has triggered several legal cases at international courts in The Hague involving requests for arrest warrants as well as accusations and denials of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

In the new book, Francis also speaks about migration and the problem of integrating migrants in their host countries.

“Faced with this challenge, no country can be left alone and no one can think of addressing the issue in isolation through more restrictive and repressive laws, sometimes approved under the pressure of fear or in search of electoral advantages,” Francis said.

“On the contrary, just as we see that there is a globalization of indifference, we must respond with the globalization of charity and cooperation,” he added. Francis also mentioned the “still open wound of the war in Ukraine has led thousands of people to abandon their homes, especially during the first months of the conflict.”

Pope Francis looks at the cross as he presides over a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis holds the cross as he presides over a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis presides over a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A view of St. Peter's Basilica as Pope Francis presides over a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor, at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis presides over a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Abel Eduardo Balbo, former soccer player from Argentina, reads during a mass presided by Pope Francis on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis presides over a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A priest carries Pope Francis skull-cap as he presides over a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis delivers his speech during a mass on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)