VOTERS went to the polls in Senegal today for a parliamentary election that is set to determine if the country’s newly elected president can carry out ambitious reforms.

More than seven million registered voters in the west African country are choosing 165 lawmakers in the national assembly, where the party of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye currently does not hold a majority.

Mr Faye, who was elected in March on an anti-Establishment platform, says that has blocked him from executing the reforms he pledged during his campaign, including fighting corruption, reviewing fishing permits for foreign companies and securing a bigger share from the country’s natural resources for the population.

In September, he dissolved the opposition-led parliament, paving the way for a snap legislative election. His party is facing the Takku Wallu opposition platform led by former President Macky Sall, alongside 39 other registered parties and coalitions.

Mr Faye’s party, Patriots of Senegal, needs at least 83 seats in order to gain a majority in the assembly. Analysts say it has a high chance of securing that, given its popularity and Mr Faye’s margin of victory in the March presidential election.

Mr Faye was elected with 54 per cent in the first round, becoming Africa’s youngest elected leader.