Senegal is on the home stretch leading to the legislative elections scheduled for November 17, 2024. And the least we can say is that the campaign for this election which is supposed to reshuffle the political cards on the banks of the Senegal River, is far from being a quiet river. Indeed, it is punctuated by violence as evidenced by the attack on the PASTEF convoy in Saint-Louis, resulting in two injuries and nearly forty arrests by the judicial authorities. And as if to add fuel to the already incandescent embers, the Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, invited his activists and sympathizers to “take revenge for the attacks” of their adversaries. Even if the head of the Executive tried to redeem himself, the fact remains that the damage has already been done. And the question that we can legitimately ask ourselves in the face of these slippages is the following: why has the Senegalese democratic flagship become so shriveled? The answer to this question lies in the issues at stake in this election which comes following the dissolution of the National Assembly which had introduced, as we remember, a motion for dismissal against the Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko.
The political class has no right to harvest the political heritage built by the founding fathers of Senegal
For the presidential party, it is a question of ensuring, whatever it takes, a comfortable majority in Parliament to be able to govern more freely. For the opposition, the ambition is to thwart this project at all costs by constituting a parliamentary majority to control the action of the Executive. Failing that, she wants to force PASTEF to share power through political cohabitation. But beyond these entirely political ambitions, behind these legislative elections, personal destinies are playing out against the backdrop of vengeful instincts. For the Ousmane Sonko-Diomaye Faye duo, it is a question of making the former head of state, Macky Sall, who made his life difficult, surrender. We still remember the political and legal setbacks of the leaders of the presidential party with the added bonus of prison and all the repression that fell on the demonstrators who were committed to their cause. For ex-president Macky Sall who has certainly not yet digested having been rejected, and in a very humiliating manner, from the presidential palace, after having tried in vain to grant himself a bonus as head of state , it is first of all a question of protecting oneself from any legal hassle. Even if he benefits from the amnesty he signed at the end of his term of office, the best guarantee against his political adversaries remains a political screen. It cannot be excluded that these legislative elections for Macky Sall will allow him to keep control of the political field with the undoubtedly ambition of preparing his return to the head of the Senegalese state. The entire Senegalese political class is, without a doubt, carried away by the momentum of this duel in which we do not hesitate to box below the belt.
We can hope that the Senegalese political class, which has always shown maturity, will listen to reason
The activists of the Samma Sa Kadu coalition of the mayor of Dakar, Barthélémy Dias, who attacked the PASTEF electoral caravan, have, in a political atmosphere worthy of the law of the jungle, bought a fight which they lead by proxy. But whatever the motivations for this violence, we can say that they are unworthy of Senegal which until then had remained presented as a democratic beacon on the continent and which constitutes, in fact, for all democrats on the continent, a glimmer of hope in the face of the new spring of power grabs. Better still, the political class has no right to harvest the political heritage patiently built by the founding fathers of Senegal, from Léopold Sédar Senghor to Abdoulaye Wade via Abdou Diouf. And for all these reasons, Senegal must not disappoint. And this responsibility for keeping the democratic flame burning in the country of Téranga falls to the Executive. And for good reason. First of all, it is the government which is responsible for organizing the election and as such, it is accountable for any slippages that may come to light and which would taint the credibility of the election. Then, it is the Executive which has the initiative for public action, in accordance with the requirements of Senegalese law. He is the guarantor of public order and has, for this purpose, the public force and justice at his disposal. Finally, for the Sonko-Faye duo in power, they should do better than their predecessors. That said, we can, nevertheless, hope that the Senegalese political class, which has always shown maturity, will listen to reason and that tensions will decrease in order to allow elections to be held in a peaceful climate that will honor Senegal’s reputation.
“The Country”
