海角大神

Senegal鈥檚 presidential elections appears to be headed for a runoff, opening up a period of potential unrest in West Africa's stablest democracy.

With 10 percent of the ballots counted, President Abdoulaye Wade is estimated to have won just 24 percent of the vote, with his nearest competitor in a field of 13 candidates having won 21 percent. According to Senegalese law, a presidential candidate must win more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff election.

It鈥檚 far from the crushing victory that President Wade predicted and reflects the divisions he unleashed by running for a third term after promising to serve only two. A runoff, if handled well, could bring settlement to that dispute. But any runoff would put democracy to the test in Senegal, the one聽country in the region never to have had a military coup d'etat.

Overall, the vote on Sunday appeared to be peaceful and orderly across the country. But as Wade cast his vote in Dakar, he was booed by crowds at the polling station, the BBC reported. Some Senegalese shouted, 鈥淕et out, old man,鈥� while others chanted: 鈥淕o away Wade.鈥�

President Wade came to power promising to help turn Senegal into West Africa鈥檚 Singapore, and during his tenure, the country has experienced 4 percent growth rates, higher literacy rates, and increased life spans. It has also attracted an influx of foreign investors and French banks. What makes this influx all the more remarkable is the fact that Senegal is not an oil-rich economy, like Nigeria, or rich in natural resources such as gold, like Ivory Coast and Ghana. As the Wall Street Journal's reporter, Drew Hinshaw writes,聽Senegal鈥檚 main attraction is its stability and its relatively large educated work force.

Wade remains popular for these achievements in many parts of the country, but for urban youths 鈥� 30 percent of whom remain unemployed even in these prosperous times 鈥� Wade is the man to blame for their sorrows.

Following a Constitutional Court decision, allowing Wade to run for a third term, heavy protests broke out in the capital city of Dakar. Police dispersed the crowds with tear gas, truncheons, and rubber bullets, and six people were killed. Youth activists promised to make the country 鈥渦ngovernable鈥� if Wade won the election, and opposition candidates said protests would continue if it appeared there were any irregularities in how votes were tallied.

Leading the African Union鈥檚 observer mission, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo appealed to Senegalese to 鈥渁void all forms of violence during the election鈥� and to 鈥渃onsolidate the democratic achievements of Senegal.鈥�

Johnnie Carson, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs who also observed the Senegalese elections on Sunday, praised the orderliness of polling stations. But the US government has been critical of Wade鈥檚 decision to, in the words of the US ambassador Daniel Lukens, 鈥減ut the security of his country in peril by insisting on seeking a third mandate.鈥�

Now, all eyes turn to Wade鈥檚 chief opponent, Macky Sall, who was once a Wade prot茅g茅.

With initial results showing Mr. Sall in a tight race with Wade, Sall predicted that a runoff elections was 鈥渋nevitable.鈥�