“My dear compatriots from Senegal and the diaspora,
Before anything else, I would like to renew my solidarity and compassion with our fellow citizens who are victims of the floods.
While the electoral campaign for the legislative elections of November 17 is in full swing, I wanted to address you, to talk to you about the reasons which determined me to agree to lead the list of the Takku Wallu Senegal coalition.
Last April, after your sovereign choice of March 24, and faithful to our tradition of major and peaceful democracy, I ensured the orderly and peaceful transmission of power.
In the same spirit, out of republican courtesy, I imposed a time of retreat and reserve, to allow my successor and his government to begin the exercise of their mandate with complete serenity.
With the support of men and women of value, dedication and competence, I left a country resolutely on the trajectory of emergence, with one of the rare economies in the world to post a positive growth rate, after the devastating impact of COVID-19 and despite the collateral effects of a major war.
I left a peaceful country, with an amnesty law adopted in a spirit of forgiveness and national reconciliation, after three years of destructive violence.
I have tired of a country whose words count internationally, a country listened to and respected by its bilateral and multilateral partners.
I left a country whose public governance and legal security inspire confidence conducive to investment, which generates growth and employment.
I left a country whose civil service, all categories combined, has been strengthened in terms of staff and upgraded in salary.
I left a country with structuring infrastructures, essential to economic and social development: roads, motorways, bridges and access tracks, the TER, the BRT, power plants, modern airports, the largest private investment of the history of our country, with the Port of the Future construction site in Ndayane, a seawater desalination project in public-private partnership, new universities, turnkey hospitals, latest generation sports infrastructures and a finalized project to conquer space, which resulted in the launch of our country’s first satellite.
I left a country with operational instruments of economic inclusion and social justice, including the DER/FJ, the 3FPT, the Xëyu ndaw yi program, the Family Security Grants and Universal Health Coverage.
Eight months later, unfortunately, we all note with regret that these achievements are seriously threatened: the economy is at half mast, as evidenced by the catastrophic situation of agriculture, livestock, fishing, crafts , small commerce, which employs millions of compatriots and that of construction, with thousands of unemployed workers and as many related activities which are at a standstill.
Eight months later, and twice in the space of a few weeks, our country’s sovereign rating was downgraded by two evaluation agencies, following untimely, slanderous and unfounded assertions, the last of which, even more grotesque, which relates to an alleged bank account worth one thousand billion FCFA was quickly denied by banking professionals and could not fool anyone. At the same time, the alleged ONAS and ASER scandals are slow to be clarified.
This is what does not inspire the confidence of any lessor or investor. This is what will further darken the outlook for the national economy, jeopardize businesses and jobs, aggravate youth unemployment and slowly kill the private, formal and informal sector.
Today, my dear compatriots, denial, populism, untruths and manipulation, take the place of a mode of governance, just as yesterday, they served as electoral promises.
Today, the time for sterile words has replaced the time for action useful to the populations, at a time when emergencies are being reported everywhere and compatriots, victims of floods, are desperately calling for help.
Today, the one who told you that he does not need a state of grace to immediately resolve all your problems, asks you to be patient, telling you straight in the eyes, that even a mandate would not be enough to reduce the cost of living and resolve your difficulties.
Today, the one who promised you paradise on earth is struggling to pay student scholarships and those for family security.
Today, the one who told you that the executive power should not be given a majority in the national assembly, is demanding an overwhelming majority from you.
Today, the one who promised you his PROJECT as a miracle solution to all your ills, has finally resigned himself to a bad copy of the Emerging Senegal Plan; a copy without coherence or ambition, which pushes back our objective of emergence from 2035 to 2050. In short, the VARS follow one another, innumerable, revealing in broad daylight the limits of incoherent, finicky and calamitous governance.
Should we still believe in new commitments and new promises with no future? Certainly not.
And our country is not getting any better institutionally. The National Assembly was dissolved in a game of hide and seek unworthy of the State and the Republic, even though it was regularly convened in extraordinary session and the Prime Minister’s General Policy Declaration was properly registered. due form to its agenda.
This sad episode confirms the dysfunction of our institutions, stuck in a serious role reversal between the Prime Minister and the Head of State, of which the public questioning of decisions by executives is a clear example.
I do not forget the settling of scores inflicted on state agents, the arbitrary arrests and sanctions, the violence and threats against opponents and any dissenting voice, the vain attempts to muzzle the press, as well as the repeated attacks and unpunished against our religious communities
I tell you with seriousness, my dear compatriots: so many excesses and slippages in such a short time do not bode well. Liy raam ci ñak bi la jëm. Populism and authoritarianism lead directly to dictatorship, to the destruction of the foundations of our democracy, our economy and our way of living together in peace, freedom and national cohesion; so many ideals and values that we cherish and which form the basis of our common heritage.
We cannot allow these ideals and values that bring us together to wither away, because it is a heritage received from the ancients, a heritage that serves as our viaticum on the path that unites us and a heritage that we must pass on to future generations.
Faced with this dark picture, I could have not acted, remained in the comfort of my reserve and kept my distance from national affairs. This would mean avoiding my responsibilities as a citizen sufficiently informed about the affairs of the State, the Republic and the Nation, under the test of power.
This, my dear compatriots, is what justified my decision to agree to lead the grand Takku Wallu Senegal coalition, with experienced men and women, not for any political positioning, but to create the conditions for a start. citizen of stature, who transcends partisan divisions, in order to mobilize us all to stop the dangers accumulating in our country and initiate the necessary recovery.
On this basis, if you place your trust in it on November 17, the Takku Wallu Senegal coalition makes the following commitments:
➢First, the restoration of the regular functioning of the Institutions of the Republic and national stability, through the establishment of a Government of Union, Stability and National Reconciliation, which will work in good harmony with the president of the Republic, in the best interest of the nation;
➢Secondly, the convening, within the next three months, of the National Reconciliation and Stability Conference, bringing together all the active forces of the nation;
➢Third, an Emergency Program for those affected by floods;
➢Fourth, an Emergency Program for vocational training, entrepreneurship and youth employment, the fight against illegal emigration and the establishment of a support mechanism for young graduates of higher education, while waiting for their insertion;
➢Fifth, a Program to rationalize Institutions and reduce the lifestyle of the State and the Parapublic Sector;
➢Sixth, reducing the cost of living by controlling inflation in the prices of basic necessities;
➢Seventh, the acceleration of the implementation of flagship programs, projects and reforms of the PSE and the resumption of all stopped projects.
All these measures are within our reach. And the TakkuWallu Senegal coalition, all of whose components are accustomed to the management of public affairs, is sufficiently prepared for their immediate implementation.
In doing so, we remain convinced that in democracy, what must predominate is the debate of ideas, it is the strength of the arguments, it is the coherence and the feasibility of the proposals. What must be excluded is violence, it is hatred, it is warmongering, it is outrageous slander.
This is an opportunity for me to greet with respect and affection our dean, President Abdoulaye Wade and pay him a vibrant tribute for having encouraged and supported our coalition.
Likewise, I salute and thank all the party and movement leaders of our coalition, and of the inter-coalition with whom we share the desire to restore the balance of our Institutions, help restart our economy, restore hope to our youth, work to reduce the cost of living and revitalize the mechanisms of economic inclusion and social justice.
After all these years of unnecessary tensions and violence, the ardent wish that I share with our allies is that at the end of the decisive deadline of November 17, our country enters a new cycle of peaceful democracy, of compromise dynamic and calm dialogue between the Institutions.
This is how we can build together the Senegal of our dreams, a Senegal reconciled with itself, to continue its resolute march towards progress, in peace and national cohesion. This is what I invite you to do, my dear compatriots.
Long live Senegal! Long live Africa! »
Macky Sall, head of the list of the Senegalese Aid Coalition
