'Get out old man' - Tensions run high in Senegal's election

President Abdoulaye Wade has angered many Senegalese by insisting on running for a third term, even though he revised the constitution to impose a two-term maximum.

DAKAR // Crowds loudly booed Senegal's 85-year-old president yesterday as he went to vote in his home precinct.

President Abdoulaye Wade has angered many Senegalese by insisting on running for a third term in yesterday's election, even though he revised the constitution to impose a two-term maximum. Tension is running high, because the opposition has vowed to render the country ungovernable if he wins the poll.

As he entered an elementary school to vote, an agitated crowd screamed: "Get out old man!"

Mr Wade was whisked away by security. Later a young voter who said he planned to vote for Mr Wade was encircled by a screaming mob that threatened to beat him.

This normally unflappable republic on the continent's western coast has been rocked by back-to-back protests following Mr Wade's decision. The deadly riots began last month when the country's highest court ruled that these restrictions should not apply to Mr Wade since he was elected under an earlier constitution that didn't include term limits.

Moussa Signate, a security guard, sat against the cement wall of an elementary school that had been transformed into a polling station on a downtown boulevard, watching others line up to vote. Lines snaked outside the doors of the classrooms, but Mr Signate said he was so discouraged that he was considering not voting at all.

"I'm thinking about the future of my country," said the 47-year-old. "People have had enough. If you earn, like me, 80,000 francs (Dh587) a month, and a bag of rice costs 25,000, how are you supposed to live? We're a peaceful people, but you can't push us and expect nothing. If Wade wins, it will be chaos."

Voting throughout the capital got off to an orderly start with no immediate reports of unrest. Thijs Berman, head of the European Union observation mission, said that turnout appeared to be high - an encouraging sign.

Still many people in this nation that is more than 90 per cent Muslim fingered prayer beads as they waited their turn. Others had their eyes closed in prayer. One man stood in the queue, mouthing verses from an open Quran.

"I am praying for peace in my country," said 63-year-old Assane Gningue.

In a volatile part of the world, Senegal has long been seen as the exception. Its neighbour to the north, Mauritania, held its first democratic election in 2007, only for the president to be overthrown in a coup a year later.

To the south, Guinea-Bissau's president was assassinated two years ago. And further south in Ivory Coast, mass graves are still being unearthed containing the victims of last year's post-election violence.

"For many years we all wrote and spoke about Senegal as being different," said Africa expert Chris Fomunyoh at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in Washington. "Senegal has been viewed as the anchor in the sub-region. And today, the metal on that anchor is melting before our very eyes."

First elected 12 years ago, Mr Wade was once hailed as a bright hope for Africa. He spent 25 years as the opposition leader of this nation of over 12 million, fighting the excesses of the former socialist regime which ruled Senegal from 1960 until 2000 when he was first elected.