Agitated by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye during his speech on December 31, the rationalization of the Senegalese political system has continued to interest the different regimes that have succeeded one another at the head of the Senegalese State. Often included on the menu of political consultations on the review of the electoral process, organized the day before each election, the question of the rationalization of political parties and their financing through the modification of Law No. 81-17 of May 6, 1981 relating to political parties have always come up against almost irreconcilable differences between actors.
Will President Bassirou Diomaye Faye succeed where Abdou Diouf, Abdoulaye Wade and Macky Sall relatively failed in the context of the rationalization of the Senegalese political system?
In any case, during his speech to the Nation, delivered on December 31, Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye expressed his firm desire “to provide more readability, more transparency and more rationalization” in the Senegalese political system marked today by a plethora of political parties.
Indeed, from four legally recognized groups under the regime of President Senghor, the number of political parties exploded to 45 at the end of the Diouf regime, to 188 during the 12 years of presidency of Abdoulaye Wade before reaching today today the mark of 430 formations under the management of President Macky Sall, if we are to believe Alioune Badara Diouck, spokesperson for the Alliance of Forces for Progress (Afp).
The equation of the non-effective application of Law No. 81-17 of May 6, 1981 relating to political parties
This dizzying increase in the number of political parties in Senegal is largely explained by the non-effective application of Law No. 81-17 of May 6, 1981 relating to political parties, beyond the end of political ideology. which seems, today, to give way to a militant commitment based on the search for cryto-personal interest, thus favoring the phenomenon of political transhumance. Indeed, this law, which was modified in 1989 with the introduction of provisions prohibiting “any financing from abroad” under penalty of dissolution for any party which directly or indirectly receives subsidies from abroad or from foreigners established in Senegal”, sets a certain number of obligations to be respected under penalty of dissolution. Among these, we can cite the obligation to declare, each year, at the latest within eight days following the anniversary date of the receipt of its statutes, the first names, surnames, professions and domiciles of those who, in a capacity any, are responsible for its administration. It also notes the immediate declaration of any modification made to its statutes to the Minister of the Interior who has the power to refuse any modification not in conformity with the obligations prescribed by this law.
There is also the obligation to submit each year, no later than January 31, the financial account for the past financial year, showing that the political party does not benefit from resources other than those coming from contributions, donations and bequests from its national members and supporters and the profits made during events.
Compliance with these obligations allows political parties to have access to public media, in particular Radiodiffusion Télévision du Sénégal, for the dissemination of their press releases, the coverage of their statutory events but also to be invited to participate in programs of a political, in the form of debates or round tables.
However, none of these provisions are respected in practice. Almost all political parties in Senegal do not hold annual congresses, much less transmit their financial statements to the Ministry of the Interior. To this, we must add the problem of participation in elections. Indeed, the vast majority of political groups created in recent years do not make the conquest and preservation of power their goal. Rather, they serve as a staircase for the leader to implement his personal agenda.
Consultations without impacts
A true sea serpent of the Senegalese political system, the question of the rationalization of political parties and their financing has always been raised by the different regimes which have succeeded one another in recent years at the head of the State without this being translated. in action.
This is the case with the question of modifying Law No. 81-17 of May 6, 1981, the adaptation of which to the current Senegalese political context has always been blocked by the different majorities that have come to power. Sometimes included on the menu of consultations between political actors on the review of the electoral process, organized on the eve of each election, it has never been the subject of consensus. As a result, political parties continue to grow like mushrooms after the rain in conditions that remain perplexing.
NANDO CABRAL GOMIS
