Senegal’s President Bassirou Faye dissolved the opposition-controlled parliament on Thursday, paving the way for snap legislative elections within the next 90 days.
The move comes six months after Faye’s election on an anti-establishment platform, which reflected widespread discontent among the country’s youth.
“I have dissolved the National Assembly to ask the sovereign people for the institutional means that would allow me to give substance to the systemic transformation that I promised them,” Diomaye Faye said on national television as reported by AFP.
According to AP, analysts suggest Faye’s political party, PASTEF, is well-positioned to win a majority in the new elections, given his popularity and 54% victory in the April presidential election.
At 44, Faye became Africa’s youngest elected leader, rising to power shortly after his release from prison.
