“We have been setting up for almost a month, or a little more, a committee to read all the contracts. This committee is working on taking an inventory of the conventions and contracts that have been signed by Senegal “said Mr. Faye in an interview with the Qatari channel Al Jazeera.
“If these (foreign) parties have not respected the commitments and obligations that the law imposes on them in Senegal – or that the contracts they signed impose on them – obviously we will have to return to greater fairness and greater contractual balance”he said.
In addition to political agreements, Senegal, a poor country seeking to develop, has signed contracts and agreements with foreign companies or partners in capital sectors, oil and gas, mining, transport, infrastructure or fishing.
Mr. Faye’s camp has in the past denounced some of these agreements as unfair, and renegotiation or review of them was one of Mr. Faye’s campaign promises in March. Mr. Faye promotes an agenda of rupture and transformation, sovereignist and social.
Asked about the attitude towards the former French colonial power, with which Senegal has maintained strong relations, he refused to single out France in the assertion of sovereignty. This statement “cannot be identified with regard to a single country and it would be very simplistic to think that this speech was oriented towards a single power and not towards the others”he added.
The French language “is a cultural heritage, it is our official language, we do not have to blame France or any other country for it”he said. He expressed the desire to strengthen relations with Western countries “with whom we have traditional and privileged relationships”as with other partners.
Asked about the choice made by certain countries in the region formerly close to France to turn towards Russia, Mr. Faye said he respected their sovereignty. “Senegal also chooses the countries with which it cooperates and no one will impose on it the countries with which it will cooperate”he said.
Related News :