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DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Polls opened in Senegal on Sunday for a parliamentary election that is set to determine whether 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.

Faye, who was elected in March on an anti-establishment platform, says that has blocked him from implementing 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.

Polls will close at 6 p.m (1800 GMT). The first provisional results are expected to be known by Monday morning, but the final count will only be published later in the week.

Faye’s political party, PASTEF, 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 Faye’s margin of victory in the March presidential election.

Faye, 44, was elected with 54% in the first round, becoming Africa’s youngest elected leader, less than two weeks after he was released from prison. His rise has reflected widespread frustration among Senegal’s youth with the country’s direction — a common sentiment across Africa, which has the world’s youngest population and a number of leaders accused of clinging to power for decades.

Over 60% of Senegalese are under 25 and 90% work in informal jobs. Senegal has been hit by skyrocketing inflation in recent years, making it difficult for them to get by.

The country is also a major source of irregular migration to Europe, with thousands leaving every year on rickety, artisanal fishing boats in search of economic opportunities.

The campaign for the legislative election was marked by sporadic clashes between supporters of different parties. The headquarters of an opposition party were set on fire in the capital, Dakar, and clashes have erupted between supporters in central Senegal in recent weeks, the interior ministry said Monday,

On Tuesday, Ousmane Sonko, the country’s prime minister who helped catapult Faye to victory, denounced attacks against supporters of PASTEF in Dakar and other cities.

“May each patriot they have attacked and injured be proportionally avenged. We will exercise our legitimate right to respond,” he wrote on X, before back-pedaling and asking his supporters to remain peaceful in a speech later that day.

Last month, Sonko’s vehicle was attacked with stones as clashes broke out between his supporters and unidentified attackers while he was campaigning in Koungueul, in the center of the country. The leader of an allied party, former minister Malick Gackou, had his arm broken in the incident, according to local media.

Faye called for peace and urged his supporters to respect the results of the election regardless of the outcome.

“There will be winners and losers but in the end, it is the people that win,” Faye said after casting his vote in his native town of Ndiaganiao, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Dakar.

“We have an obligation to preserve the international community’s view of our democracy. We are an exception and we must continue to protect that,” he added, referring to Senegal’s reputation as a stable democracy in West Africa, a region rocked in recent years by coups and attempted coups.

The presidential election in March had tested this reputation. Both Faye and Sonko had been imprisoned on charges that were largely seen as political, leading to months of protests that were unprecedented in Senegal. Rights groups said dozens of people were killed and about 1,000 people were jailed.

Opposition supporters also had been concerned that Sall would seek a third term in office despite being prevented from doing so by the constitution.

After a bid to delay the election was blocked by the courts, the government released hundreds of political prisoners, including Faye and Sonko, less than two weeks before the vote. Faye was catapulted into the presidency when Sonko — who was barred from running due to a previous conviction — put his backing behind the political novice and Faye easily beat the candidate backed by Sall.

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Associated Press writer Babacar Dione in Dakar contributed to this report.

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) — Tropical Storm Sara on Sunday made landfall in Belize, where forecasters expect heavy rain to cause life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides.

The storm moved inland in Belize after drenching the northern coast of Honduras, where it stalled since Friday, swelling rivers and trapping some people at home.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center’s tropical storm warning as of Sunday included the Caribbean coast of Guatemala; the coast of Belize; and northward into the coast of Mexico’s state of Quintana Roo, from Chetumal to Puerto Costa Maya.

Those areas, along with portions of El Salvador and western Nicaragua, could see up to 5 inches (13 cm), with localized totals reaching 15 inches (38 cm). The conditions “will result in areas of flash flooding, perhaps significant, along with the potential of mudslides,” according to the Hurricane Center.

“A storm surge could raise water levels by as much as 1 to 3 feet above ground level near and to the north of where the center of Sara crosses the coast of Belize,” the center said Sunday. “Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves.”

Meanwhile, northern Honduras is not in the clear yet. The center expects Sara to drop up to 3 inches (8 cm) of rain there, but some areas could see totals hit 40 inches (1 meter), with “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” still possible.

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WEST MILFORD, N.J. (AP) — Windy conditions renewed a wildfire that escaped a containment line and prompted emergency officials to enact a voluntary evacuation plan for a small number of houses in a community near the New York-New Jersey border on Saturday.

The voluntary evacuation enacted out of “an abundance of caution” impacted about 165 houses in Warwick, New York, as firefighters continued working to tame the Jennings Creek blaze, New York Parks Department spokesman Jeff Wernick said in an email Saturday night.

A local school was being used as a shelter for residents in need of one, New York State Police Troop F said in a statement. The troop said the fire necessitated a response from several public safety agencies.

“Multiple surrounding fire departments are assisting with firefighting efforts. State Police Drone Unit is on scene providing aerial assessments,” the statement said.

On Friday, the wildfire was 90% contained on the Passaic County, New Jersey, side of the border, and about 70% contained in Orange County, New York, officials said.

The wildfire had burned 7 1/2 square miles (19.4 square kilometers) across the two states as of Friday, although New York officials said that number was likely to increase as stronger winds were forecast for the weekend.

On Saturday, Wernick said New York Army National Guard helicopters dropped 21,000 gallons (79,493 liters) of water and a New York State Police helicopter dropped nearly 900 gallons (3,406 liters).

The fire was burning primarily in Sterling Forest State Park, where the visitor center, the lakefront area at Greenwood Lake and historic furnace area remained open but woodland activities including hunting were halted, Wernick said, noting residences around the lake have not been impacted.

A National Weather Service forecast for Warwick did not call for rain until Wednesday night. Firefighters previously said they will remain on the scene until significant rainfall occurs.

The blaze claimed the life of an 18-year-old New York parks employee who died when a tree fell on him as he helped fight the fire in Sterling Forest on Nov. 9. The fire’s cause remains under investigation.

Fires also were a threat elsewhere in the Northeast, as New England states were under red flag alerts for wildfires this weekend. The National Interagency Fire Center said fires in California, North Carolina and West Virginia were also concerning.

Massachusetts, which typically has about 15 wildland fires every October, had about 200 this year. State officials said they were expected to continue because of weather conditions and dry surface fuels.

Southern New Hampshire was at particular risk for fires due to dry conditions and the fire danger risk was “very high,” state officials said.

The Maine Forest Service said the southern part of the state also faced high fire danger conditions. Most of the state was abnormally dry or facing moderate drought conditions.

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