Forming a new cabinet might prove to be the greatest headache for President Macky Sall.

Macky Sall has now wrested power – albeit democratically – from his former political godfather and protégé, Abdoulaye Wade. But the greater challenge lies ahead – that of keeping the ship of State firmly in control.

His immediate task will probably be what to do with the 12 presidential candidates from the first round that supported him in the runoff. Who gets what position in the new cabinet will determine how the Senegalese political class receives President Macky Sall in his first tenure.

Can Sall maintain the same momentum? How long can he keep his winning coalition together? With parliamentary elections up next, it remains to be seen if the people who rallied behind him will not go their individual ways to try to reposition their own parties or political groupings in Parliament.

Another challenge ahead of the new president is his promise not to carry out any witch hunt of Wade’s men. This could entail turning a blind eye to recurrent allegations of corruption against officials of the outgoing government. But can Sall afford to do this, especially given his reputation as Mr. Clean? Tackling the long-running Casamance secessionist threat is another challenge for Sall.

Perhaps, the greatest of the new leader’s challenges is maintaining Senegal’s democratic tradition of peaceful transition of power. Abdoulaye Wade had promised and was true to his word. In a style that is very uncommon in Africa, Wade called and congratulated Sall when it became obvious that he had lost the presidential election. This was the very evening of voting before first official results were released!