The party scored several notable victories in the 2009 elections, including the election of former PS government minister Khalifa Sall as Mayor of Dakar [4] and Fsd/Bj Secretary General Cheikh Bamba Dièye as Mayor of Saint-Louis.[5] BSS candidates won local seats across Senegal in the March elections, including Joal-Fadiouth: in M'bour Department the BSS candidates won 12 of 16 local councils.[6] Prominent PS members of the coalition won mayor races in Yène, Louga, Mermoz-Sacré Cœur, Podor and Kaffrine.[7] In the run up to the 2009 elections, splits began to appear in the BSS coalition, with non-PS candidates such as MRDS member Imam Mbaye Niang breaking with the PS.[8]