NO DEMOCRACY WITHOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE

At the launch of the Patriotic and Democratic Reflection Framework (Crpd-50), sociologist Mamadou Wane known as “Mao” called for a radical overhaul of Senegal’s democratic and social models.

Drawing on his experiences and his sociological analysis, he pleaded for popular sovereignty more anchored in local realities. For Mamadou Wane, the current Senegalese democratic model remains dependent on the colonial heritage. “The democratic model that we have is a neocolonial model, inherited from colonization. It was never reformed.” The specialist also insisted on the importance of social justice, a sine qua non condition of any true democracy. “There cannot be political democracy if there is no social justice. A political democracy is incompatible with social inequalities,” he says.

Mr. Wane criticized the gap between the law in force and popular representations: “The law does not correspond to the imagination of the masses. We must bring our concepts back to our realities.” He notably mentioned the notion of innocence and denounced legal language which does not reflect local realities, while calling for a rethinking of priorities. “It is not reforms of the Constitutional Council that we need as a priority, but reforms which allow the people to regain their economic sovereignty,” assures the sociologist.

Mamadou Wane also warned against the isolation of current leaders. According to him, “yesterday’s revolutionaries must not become today’s bureaucrats”. He thus denounced the “excessive legal formalism” which distances power from popular concerns.