People in Senegal began voting Sunday on a proposed new constitution, which provides for a transfer of some presidential powers to the Prime Minister and parliamentary changes.
The majority of the electorate were tipped to favor the new power-sharing arrangement, which would be accompanied by a reduction of the presidential term in office and parliamentary changes.
Initial turnout in Dakar was not high after the polls opened at 8:00 am (0600 GMT).
The vote comes nine months after President Abdoulaye Wade, then the veteran leader of the opposition, was elected in a landmark vote which ended 40 years of socialist rule in the west African country.
Socialist Party leader Abdou Diouf had been in office since 1981 and won three elections.
A shorter presidential mandate is expected to please the electorate and boost's Wade's reputation as a liberal democrat. The new constitution would the term from seven to five years, renewable only once.
It would also enable Wade, a lawyer and an economic liberal who heads the Social Democratic Party, to dissolve the national assembly, still dominated by his socialist foes.
Wade said in a recent television debate that he was not happy with the current basic law as it gives him "all the power".
The new constitution also abolishes the Senate, turning parliament back into a monocameral national assembly.
It allows women to acquire property on the same terms as men, and outlaws forced marriages.
There was no doubt most people would vote "yes" to the constitution since the major parties support the text, which is opposed only by a few small groupings.
What was less certain was the turnout in an electorate of 2.56 million voters, which the presidential side hopes will be "massive", but officials said a majority had registered by withdrawing their polling cards.
Almost 140,000 Senegalese living abroad have also been urged to vote.
The 8,670 polling stations were to be stay open until 6:00 PM (1800 GMT), "with a prolongation if necessary," the interior ministry said -- DAKAR (AFP)
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