Senegal held its legislative election last weekend. The election took place just over three months after the presidential election, which saw the defeat of the incumbent, Abdoulaye Wade, and the election of Macky Sall.

At the legislative election, the new president was supported by the Benno Bokk Yaakaar (United in Hope) coalition. The BBY coalition won largely victorious. The vote share has not been made public, but the seat distribution has been announced:

• Benno Bokk Yaakaar, 119
• Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS, party of former president Wade), 12
• Bes du Niak (religious party), 4
• Bokk Gis Gis (split from PDS), 4
• Parti de la Vérité pour le Développement, 2
• Mouvement de la réforme pour le développement social, 2
• 7 others, 1 each

So, even if the BBY coalition is likely to splinter over time, there is a large majority for the new president at the moment. Importantly, as far as he is concerned, the former ruling party, the PDS, returned only a very small number of seats. So, the supporters of former president Wade are unlikely to be able to disrupt the system.

So far, therefore, Senegal’s second alternation in power has gone very smoothly.