The country’s priorities must be the concerns of our leaders. The latter, in the view of Birahim Seck, General Coordinator of the Civil Forum, have better things to do than “judicialize democracy” by arresting opponents. By Alioune Badara CISS –
The General Coordinator of the Civil Forum also spoke out on the summoning of opponents such as the case of Bougane Guèye. According to him, the government must remain focused on Senegal’s priorities. “Already, we have basic necessities which are on fire. We have a country to turn around, the government must focus on these priorities. Summoning Senegalese people because they may have made comments that you think are not normal, we think that it is just necessary, in a democracy, to issue a press release to contest the comments made by these people, and not to take legal action Senegalese democracy,” lamented the General Coordinator of the Civil Forum.
Hence the appeal he made to the government: “we call on the government for serenity, to respect the rules of the Republic, the rules of democracy, to respect freedom of expression, whatever the positions of these people, we must let them express themselves. Now, it will be up to the government to come out, to express itself, to say that it does not agree, that this person did not tell the truth. A democracy is a discussion, it’s exchanges,” said Birahim Seck. “In the recent past, the Senegalese have fought against this form of power management. In my opinion, this government must pull itself together because its behavior is causing doubt among the Senegalese. And a people who doubt can be quite a reactive people,” warned Mr. Seck.
The Civil Forum strengthens the capacities of actors
A few weeks before the start of the electoral campaign for the early legislative elections, the Civil Forum closed, yesterday in Saly, a capacity building workshop on long-term electoral observation for the benefit of actors in the electoral process from the 46 departments from Senegal. According to Birahim Seck, General Coordinator of the Civil Forum, the objective is to participate in the different stages of the electoral process, but also to strengthen the techniques and methods of observation, and the code of conduct to be respected in matters of electoral observation.
Accompanied by the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (Cena) in this training, the Civil Forum is playing its part for the early legislative elections which will be held on November 17, 2024. “The Civil Forum, faithful to its tradition, will put in place a top team for collect data in the area of electoral violence, but also on issues related to electoral corruption, especially conscience shopping but also on the functioning of the electoral process mechanism in general, while hoping that the actors have learned a lot with the experts of the day,” declared Birahim Seck.
Asked about the current progress of the electoral process, the coordinator of the Civil Forum gives his opinion on the actions that are taken. “If we rely on the actions that were taken at the political level, there were protests from the opposition over the setting of the date of the elections without consultation. There was also a meeting which did not result in strong consensus. These are hiccups, in addition to the request of the President of the Republic, who requested an opinion from the Constitutional Council and that in the latter’s decision that there are acts which concern the electoral process and that the other competitors do not have information on the elements of the electoral process contained in the notice. Which constitutes a breach of equality in electoral matters,” noted Mr. Seck. Furthermore, he indicated that apart from these observations in general, he reassures that the Territorial Administration is on the lookout. “The General Directorate of Elections constantly publishes texts which must support the electoral process, but also publishes press releases. The Ministry of Justice has set up hotlines before filing files to obtain a criminal record. The Cnra also issued a press release to speak to the media about the campaign and the pre-campaign. The Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (Cdc) has provided guidance on how to deposit deposits at the various counters. From an administrative point of view, the electoral process is following its course normally,” welcomed Birahim Seck.
He invited those in power to create the conditions of confidence so that the Senegalese go to the elections in peace.
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