Legislative elections in Senegal: stakes of a remote duel between Ousmane Sonko and Macky Sall

Less than eight months after leaving the presidency of Senegal, Macky Sall returns to the political scene for the anticipated legislative elections on November 17. The former head of state will have to face in particular the ruling party, PASTEF, whose list led by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko aims to obtain a large majority in the National Assembly.

A little over a month before these elections, considered crucial in legitimizing or not the new power in Senegal, the political scene observes a precarious calm.

Especially since we are in the aftermath of a dispute which contained no fewer issues.

Ousmane Sonko and Barthélémy Dias, big heads of the political landerneau, risked missing the electoral contests, due to their criminal records.

But the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Dakar finally won their case at the constitutional council and will finally be able to lead their troops, each as head of the list of their coalition.

Nearly fifty parties, party coalitions and independents had submitted their candidacy files for the early legislative elections on November 17, to the General Directorate of Elections (DGE), the body responsible for organizing the elections. elections.

There will ultimately be forty-one (41) lists competing for this legislative election, announced the DGE in a decree published Monday following a first selection process.

On September 12, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dissolved the National Assembly and announced the holding of early legislative elections on November 17.

According to him, this dissolution aims to clarify the democratic game and give him a stable majority in order to govern with his prime minister and no less political leader, Ousmane Sonko.

An announcement which thus kicked off a new electoral battle which promises to be epic, less than eight months after the last presidential election which brought President Bassirou Diomaye Faye to power.

Barely eight (8) months after the presidential election, Senegalese voters are once again called to the polls in order to renew the 165 members of the National Assembly for five years.

A legislative vote that the ruling party PASTEF-Les Patriotes, whose national list is led by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, aims to win in order to give the regime a majority in the National Assembly.

Traditionally, Senegalese voters have always given elected presidents a comfortable majority in Parliament, allowing them to execute the program for which they were elected and implement their reforms.

Elected with 54% of the votes in the first round of the presidential election on March 24, 2024, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye campaigned around vast reforms to be undertaken to improve the living conditions of the Senegalese.

In particular by fighting corruption, embezzlement of public funds, economic reform and better distribution of wealth derived from the exploitation of the country’s natural resources.

But six months later, these promises have yet to materialize. The fault, according to the new regime, is the absence of a parliamentary majority and a systematic blocking of government action by the former parliamentary majority Benno Bokk Yakaar, leading to the dissolution of the National Assembly.

These legislative elections represent a crucial step for PASTEF which aims to increase its political influence and strengthen its legislative weight in order to carry out its reforms.

By deciding to lead his camp’s list for these legislative elections, Ousmane Sonko, a charismatic figure and head of government, wants to throw all his weight behind and use his influence to maximize the chances of his party, believes Maurice Soudieck Dione, Professor associate professor of political science at the Gaston Berger University of Saint Louis, who spoke to BBC Africa.

“I think that the strategy adopted by Ousmane Sonko is a good strategy, because it will allow him to mobilize the electorate through his charisma, his certain capacity to attract voters. In addition, the fact of leading the Pastef list allows it to master, control, secure the elected officials of PASTEF and to have more coherence and efficiency to carry out the reforms contained in the Project”, analyzes Mr. Dione.

One of the central issues of these anticipated legislative elections lies in the fact that they will determine the political trajectory of the country for the five years to come.

The return to the political scene of former head of state Macky Sall six months after leaving power, marks a decisive turning point in the legislative campaign and offers a glimpse of new political perspectives.

This paves the way for a large-scale political clash between two of Senegal’s most influential leaders, a sort of “second round of the presidential election”, according to several analysts.

Former Senegalese President (2012-2024) Macky Sall, came out of retirement to lead the list of the opposition coalition Takku Wallu Senegal, a political alliance between his party the Alliance for the Republic (APR) and the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) of his predecessor as head of state, Me Abdoulaye Wade.

Macky Sall has also resigned from his position as special envoy of the Paris Pact for People and the Planet (4P), a position offered to him by French President Emmanuel Macron at the end of his second term.

It is unprecedented in the political annals of Senegal that a former president who has barely completed his mandate at the head of the country is a candidate for legislative elections.

“I think that the participation of President Macky Sall in these legislative elections only six months after his departure from power is therefore a first in the political history of Senegal. Generally, former presidents took a step back for several years. Even President Wade remained in the background for five years before returning to the political arena to head the PDS list in the 2017 legislative elections,” observes Professor Maurice Soudieck Dione.

By deciding to personally engage in the legislative campaign, the former president intends to make accountability more difficult through parliamentary immunity and the privilege of jurisdiction enjoyed by former ministers and the former President of the Republic, analysis Maurice Soudieck Dione

“One of the readings that we can make is that Macky Sall is seeking parliamentary immunity for his former collaborators, notably ministers and that is why he decided to get involved to have the greatest number of deputies and reduce the room for maneuver of the regime in place with a view to a possible accountability which could be akin to a settling of political scores.

The Takku Wallu Senegal coalition has set itself the objective of countering the wave of Pastef and imposing cohabitation on the new regime embodied by President Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.

To achieve this, an inter-coalition strategy was established which brings together three coalitions of opposition political parties including “Takku Wallu Senegal”, “Jamm Ak Njariñ” and “Samm Sa Kaddu” (Respect your word ) of the former mayor of the capital Khalifa Sall and whose national list is led by the current mayor of Dakar Bathélémy Dias and former ally of Sonko and Pastef, notably during the last local elections in January 2022 and the legislative elections in July 2022.

Another leading personality to enter the race for these legislative elections, former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, unsuccessful candidate in the last presidential election, heads the list of a broad opposition coalition called Jamm Ak Njariñ (Peace and Success). in Wolof).

Among the personalities who make up this alliance made up of around thirty political parties, we can cite the AFP of Moustapha Niasse, former president of the National Assembly, and the Socialist Party led by Aminata Mbengue Ndiaye, who has just been dismissed from office. her functions as President of the High Council for Local Authorities (HCCT) by President Diomaye Faye.

The former head of government under Macky Sall decided to launch his new political formation the day after the presidential election for which he wore the colors of the defunct Benno Bokk Yakaar coalition.

In his declaration of political re-entry, Amadou Ba, credited with 35% of the votes in the 2024 presidential election, displayed his ambitions by posing as a potential leader of an opposition in search of leadership.

“Senegal is going through a period of great expectations and countless economic and social challenges. More than ever, the time has come to act, not with haste, but with discernment, method and determination,” he declared.

Former Prime Minister Ba can count on the support of APR executives and former collaborators of President Sall to lead this battle to win seats in the national assembly and position himself on a political scene in full reconfiguration.

The early legislative elections take place on November 17, 2024. They aim to renew the one hundred and sixty-five (165) seats in the national assembly in a parallel voting system (majority and proportional voting) in a single round.

One hundred and twelve (112) seats are filled by majority vote on the departmental lists and those of the diaspora.

The remaining fifty-three (53) seats are filled by multi-member proportional voting on the basis of a national coefficient and the total cumulative votes at the national level.

Senegal had its last legislative elections on July 31, 2022. With 83 deputies, the then presidential coalition “Benno Bokk Yakaar” narrowly won an absolute majority.

The opposition alliance “Yewwi-Wallu” had 80 seats including 56 for the “Yewwi Askan Wi” coalition led by Ousmane Sonko and 24 seats for that of “Wallu Senegal” of ex-president Abdoulaye Wade.