Dakar, Oct 1 (APS) – The legislative elections on November 17 continue to arouse the interest of daily newspapers, while the actors concerned work to put in place the plans and refine their strategies to garner the maximum number of votes.
Many headlines from this Tuesday’s delivery of the daily press take stock of the alliances, concluded or aborted, in perspective of this election.
The daily L’info, for example, notes that the dynamic of the intercoalition that the opposition intended to put in place “will not be completely unitary” in the end.
“And for good reason,” the newspaper reports, “the coalition of former Prime Minister Amadou Ba will only follow the other two in ‘a few departments’, while [les deux autres coalitions restantes] will be together ‘in all departments’”.
Rewmi daily underlines that “Amadou Ba declines the offer” of the other opposition coalitions. The newspaper adds that the former Prime Minister “did not agree to the idea of this large opposition bloc which should contribute to reducing the chances of success of Ousmane Sonko’s Pastef” in these anticipated legislative elections called subsequently of the dissolution of the National Assembly by the President of the Republic, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, on September 12.
This intercoalition “could have maximized the opposition’s chances of winning the legislative elections. Ambitions, notably the intransigence of Samm sa Kaddu in Dakar and Takku Wallu Senegaal in the north, did not allow the agreement to be pushed through to the end,” the newspaper Le Quotidien believes.
Three major coalitions to confront the presidential party
As a result, “Amadou Ba will go it alone with his coalition,” insists the same newspaper. “Amadou Ba defects, Takku-Wallu and Samm Sa Kaddu join forces,” says the daily Les Echos.
“If Takku Wallu and Samm sa Kaddu were able to smooth things over to arrive at a consensual list in most of the country’s departments, the false note came from the New Responsibility of Amadou Ba who decided to go it alone put leaves in a few localities,” writes Source A.
Ultimately, notes L’As, “three major coalitions will confront the presidential party, Pastef, in the hope of obtaining a majority in the National Assembly. Examining these alliances more closely, it is striking that some of their members were, in the past, fierce adversaries,” the newspaper adds. “Enemies yesterday, friends today,” he says on this subject.
“Of all the alliances […]the Takku Wallu Senegale, Samm sa Kaddu and Jamm ak Njarin intercoalition is the most contradictory. In this group, writes Walfquotdiien, we find everything from former Yewwi Askan Wi, socialists, liberals, progressives, aperitifs, etc. Enemies of yesterday, become true companions to fight a common adversary”.
Sud Daily therefore notes that these legislative elections promise to be those of “all possibilities”. “Elections with multiple and vital issues for everyone, in search of a majority, either to be able to govern quietly, or to impose cohabitation and give themselves the means to put pressure on the regime”, analyzes L’info.
It remains constant that Pastef, the ruling party, “will have strong adversaries during [de ces élections]”, underlines L’Observateur. The newspaper, in turn, lifts the veil “on certain schemes and political combinations carried out by the opposition grouped in an intercoalition which can harm the list of power carried by Pastef”.
“Wave of discontent” following the inaugurations
Vox populi is already reveling in the announced duel between former President Macky Sall and the current Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko. “Equal or double, after the presidential election”, writes the newspaper, adding that Macky Sall, designated head of the Takku Wallu list according to Vox Populi, will face “the fall of his regime”.
“After having faced each other in the presidential election through intermediary candidates, here they are in direct confrontation in the anticipated legislative elections,” notes this publication. The investigation particularly highlights the “general disputes” arising from the preparation of the lists of candidates.
As the election approaches, “tensions within the main Senegalese political parties are rising a notch. The inaugurations, a crucial moment when each party nominates its representatives on the electoral lists, cause turmoil which risks upsetting the internal balance of several political groups,” reports the newspaper.
And the newspaper cites in particular the Alliance for the Republic (APR), the party of former President Macky Sall, and Pastef, a party led by current Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. These two parties “are not spared from this wave of discontent, like other coalitions and parties, notably the Alliance of Forces of Progress (AFP), the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) and several other political movements” .
The daily Kritik’ observes that the Senegalese opposition “has taken the gamble of silencing the parochial quarrels for large groups capable of moving the lines”.
“As much as the presidential party, Pastef, intends to rely on a loyal electorate to grant itself a parliamentary majority […]as much as the opposition parties have learned the lessons of the last presidential election where they were crushed by seeking the votes of the Senegalese in scattered ranks,” concludes the newspaper.
BK
