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Senegal election: Abdoulaye Wade concedes defeat to Macky Sall
The United States and former colonial ruler France had urged Wade not to run.
A top legal body, however, upheld his argument that his first term did not count because it began before a two-term limit was adopted.
Early poll results from Dakar, where Wade has faced his harshest opposition, showed Sall mostly ahead, including in Wade’s own precinct in the upscale Point E neighbourhood with 417 votes to Wade’s 120.
Full results are expected Monday or Tuesday.
In Dakar’s downtown, site of several violent protests ahead of the first round, cars honked their horns and dozens of Sall supporters took to the streets singing and playing drums as the piecemeal results were read over the radio.
Wade fell short of the outright majority he needed to avoid a run-off in the February 26 first round, with 34.8 percent to Sall’s 26.6 percent. The other first-round candidates united behind Sall, improving his chances.
