Press Review: Daily newspapers are moved by electoral violence
The daily newspapers, pointing to acts of violence committed against caravans organized by candidates for the legislative elections on November 17, are concerned, in their edition this Tuesday, about the “dangerous turn” of the electoral campaign.
“It’s degenerating”, headlines the daily L’As on this subject, especially referring to the violence that occurred in Saint-Louis (north), incidents “between [des agents de] coalition security Samm Your Word. […] and young people from Pastef, especially merchants”.
“Several Pastef activists were injured with machetes,” reports L’As, stressing that this violence led the Minister of the Interior and Public Security to “demand” that searches be imposed on “suspicious processions.”
Jean Baptiste Tine at the same time banned “attacks on caravans”, according to the newspaper Le Quotidien. “The violence noted during the electoral campaign pushes the Minister of the Interior and Public Security to warn potential violators of Order No. 026507 of October 22, 2024 prohibiting the carrying of weapons of all categories and explosive materials, from October 17 to December 17, 2024,” he wrote.
“Jean Baptiste Tine informs that the security forces have received ‘firm instructions’ to ‘systematically search people and processions considered suspicious,’” adds Le Quotidien.
“The discovery of any weapon, by nature or destination, will result in the application of the sanctions provided for by law,” continues the same newspaper, quoting Mr. Tine.
Final turn coinciding with the “battle for the capital”
Libération reports that the convoy of a competing coalition was “intercepted late in the evening by the BIP”, the Multipurpose Intervention Brigade, an elite unit of the National Police.
“The legislative campaign is in full swing […] in a tense context”, which motivated the reminder, by the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, of “the importance of preserving peace and public order during this crucial period for the country”, notes the daily EnQuête.
“Last high-risk turn”, coinciding with the “battle for the capital”, Dakar, where the candidates will meet, for the last days of the electoral campaign, underlines WalfQuotidien. “After having traveled the interior of the country, he notes, the heads of the national lists retreat to Dakar.”
The candidates “will devote the remaining ninety-six hours of the campaign [à] the capital. Violence and collisions in perspective,” fears WalfQuotidien.
Vox Populi is also concerned about the “dangerous turn of a violent and bloody campaign”.
“After Dakar, Koungheul, Mbacké, Diourbel, Saint-Louis in violence”, notes the same publication, reporting “unbearable” images of people molested and slashed.
“UN inaction in Palestine and Lebanon”
Sud Quotidien looks back at the end of the sustainable fishing partnership between Senegal and the European Union, a “new turning point” which is necessary for both parties, according to the newspaper.
The protocol implementing the fishing agreement governing the two parties since its signature on November 18, 2019, “for a period of five years, expires on November 17,” reports the newspaper.
“The implementation of this agreement has sparked a lot of controversy among players in the sector [de la pêche] who have continued to denounce bad practices […] foreign ships in Senegalese territorial waters,” comments Sud Quotidien.
He wonders if the State of Senegal will definitively break this partnership or renegotiate the contract while protecting the interests of Senegalese fishermen.
Le Soleil was particularly interested in the advocacy of the President of the Republic, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, in favor of the Palestinians.
Mr. Faye noted “the inaction of the UN Security Council on the situation in Palestine and Lebanon”, reports the newspaper.
The Senegalese head of state, speaking at the extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, “believes that [cette] inertia […] risks calling into question [la] credibility” of the United Nations.
