DAKAR, Senegal — President Macky Sall of Senegal was poised for a strong re-election victory, according to preliminary results announced on Thursday. The outcome was nearly guaranteed after the leader used his power to make sure he faced little competition on the ballot.

Mr. Sall won a second term with 58 percent of the vote, the West African nation’s electoral commission announced five days after votes were cast on Sunday.

In a region with a history marred by civil wars and coups, Senegal continues to stand out for its largely peaceful transitions of power. Only one major episode of violence related to the vote was reported: the stabbing to death of a pro-government campaigner during a feud between rival camps at an event in a city east of the capital, Dakar, one of several pre-election clashes.

Mr. Sall’s platform included taking credit for building roads, a stadium, a conference center, a new museum and an airport — all part of an ambitious infrastructure plan called Emerging Senegal. Much of the construction was financed with help from China. Electricity supply and agricultural production also increased in his first term.

But critics assailed him for using the presidency to initiate investigations against major potential challengers that left them imprisoned or otherwise ineligible to be listed on the ballot.

One possible rival who could have provided tougher opposition, Khalifa Sall, a former mayor of the capital, Dakar, (and no relation to the president), was sent to prison on charges ordered up by the government. Another potential contender, Karim Wade, son of former president Abdoulaye Wade, was also barred from running for president after a court found him guilty of corruption.

Other members of opposition parties joined Mr. Sall’s team to avoid threats of prosecution.

Ousmane Sène, director for the West African Research Center in Dakar, said that Mr. Sall’s second-term priority should be reforming the judicial system that critics say he manipulated to secure his victory.

“Citizens no longer trust this country’s court system, and it is high time something is done to renew this trust,” Mr. Sène said.

Human rights campaigners have also criticized the judicial system, and the union of magistrates in Senegal recently protested what it called “executive influence” over the courts.

Senior members of the Higher Council of the Judiciary of Senegal, a body that makes recommendations for the appointment of Supreme Court judges and is headed by the president, have called for changes. One member, Ibrahima Hamidou Dème, a prominent judge, announced his resignation in 2017, accusing the president’s administration of failing to guarantee an independent judiciary.

Mr. Sall also faces the challenge of creating jobs and improving access to education in Senegal. Another concern will be maintaining security in a country that has so far escaped the kind of violence that has plagued other nations in the region, such as Mali and Burkina Faso, which have both seen a marked increase in terrorist activity from Islamist militants.

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