Alfred Kane works for ATPS bank, located in Dakar, as a sales supervisor. It was from the Senegalese capital that he followed the electoral campaign for the legislative elections. Before the opening of the polling stations, Sunday November 17, Mondafrique met him and he gives us here his uncompromising analysis of what he observed during these three weeks and, beyond, since the change of power in Senegal.
Dakar, the private correspondence of Elvis Diallo
What analyzes do you make of the different political forces at the end of this electoral campaign?
This campaign, in my opinion, has redrawn the political map of Senegal. The great political entities of the past, whether the old major political parties or the old coalitions, fractured during this campaign and gave way to new coalitions. Only the Pastef (ruling party, Editor’s note) is going to these elections by maintaining itself as an entity in its own right. Added to this is the transhumance movement which is largely in favor of the ruling party. These are political leaders invested by other lists but who have decided to join Pastef. This is the case of Madame Bergame Kanouté, former standard bearer of the APR, the party of the former president, and who, for having been invested in 25th place on the list led by the former president, decided to lend support to the ruling party.
Under these conditions, is cohabitation still possible?
This will be impossible because all the coalitions that governed the country have disintegrated. For example, the Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition (coalition of the former President of the Republic, Editor’s note) experienced a general disarray as soon as Macky Sall lost power. Political parties or coalitions withdrew to create other political parties. The old divisions that appeared during the last presidential campaign between Macky Sall and his former prime minister Amadou Ba have been strengthened. The two camps now stare at each other.
Is it possible that Pastef, once it becomes a majority in the National Assembly, will take revenge on the dignitaries of the former ruling party?
This is obvious. Pastef has in fact clearly said that if he manages to obtain the parliamentary majority, the next step will be the establishment of a high court of justice which will judge the former leaders of the system. Because for him, the men of the old regime squandered the country’s resources.
Will the possible failure of the opposition be attributable to the choice made by President Macky Sall to lead his coalition from the outside?
Macky Sall no longer weighs on Senegalese political life. He still has his traditional strongholds in his national Fatick (2,270 km from Dakar, Editor’s note) and in the north where he can still count on the ethnic vote. I’m from the north myself and most of our parents think like that. Macky Sall is Alpoular and that’s where he has always won. But Pastef is doing remarkable work in the north. Unfortunately the recent floods have disrupted its program and the opposition is now trying to exploit this fault by riding on ethnic divisions by explaining to the populations of the north that it is because Pastef is in the minority there that it has done nothing to help them. But I think that if Macky Sall was still very popular in Senegal, he would not have chosen to run his campaign from abroad on WathsApp. In any case, I doubt that he will be an addition to the opposition today, because all the important figures of his party have joined other coalitions.
What do you think of the political project of the ruling party? Does it take into account the various issues facing Senegal: youth unemployment, illegal emigration? Furthermore, is this program realistic?
Realistic or not, the electoral results will tell us. For my part, I believe that Pastef has not yet rolled out its program. Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko should do so during his general policy speech. Which was not done for reasons we all know. We are therefore awaiting this speech which will allow Pastef to outline the different axes on which it intends to base itself to develop the country. And through this development, reach young people, health and everything necessary for us to feel better in the country.
Do you understand the reasons why he avoided the old National Assembly?
Certainly, because given the configuration of the National Assembly which was dissolved, Ousmane Sonko would have faced a lethal motion of censure which would have literally dismissed him. And because it did not have a majority, it was difficult for Pastef to work with this national assembly. Hence the dissolution.
Despite everything, the Prime Minister is still popular
Yes, Ousmane Sonko is someone people like. It is more to him than to Diomaye Faye (President of the Republic since April 2024, Editor’s note) that the Senegalese have entrusted the country. And they love him so much that it is impossible for his activists to separate populist campaign declarations that cannot be achieved from what he can actually do. As a reminder, Abdoulaye Wade (former Senegalese president, Editor’s note) promised us corn and mango factories which were quickly forgotten as soon as he came to power. There, Ousmane Sonko told us about a personal account of 1000 billion, which is impossible. But we are in the countryside and we can allow ourselves this kind of deviation in language. Especially since the populations seem to be content that he is in power while the economic situation of the country is bad and that factually I often meet people whose companies have gone bankrupt and who approach us left and right.
Have exports fallen significantly?
The statistics are quite staggering at the Port of Dakar. Imports and exports of goods have declined significantly. These are fairly plausible barometers to understand that the economy is slowing down. But the average Pastef activist doesn’t care. And I fear that we are facing the same euphoria that carried the presidency of Abdoulaye Wade. But quickly, the people got fed up and it was a collapse. And it is this effect that I fear. Unless we catch up with unemployment which is still rising, and illegal emigration which still attracts young people whose only hope is to emigrate to Europe for lack of anything better here.
