Senegal. “The time for promises is over”: young people await Assembly and government at the turning point

«I pay tribute to the Senegalese people for the great victory they gave to Pastef», the party of the president and the Prime Minister did not wait for the final results of the anticipated legislative elections to declare victory. A triumph that no one disputes, not even the opposition. The proof: “itIt’s not a shame to lose to an organization as well structured as Pastef. We ran a clean campaign and made our voice heard. This is a step that pushes us to work harder for the future“. At the microphone of 360 Afrique, Mama Sané, unsuccessful candidate of the Wareef coalition, said she was satisfied “despite the defeat.»

These legislative elections took place on November 17 after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dissolved Parliament last September to have a “stable majority» in an Assembly then dominated by supporters of former President Macky Sall.

It is now done. Amath Wade, member of the Pastef coalition, welcomes a victory which he describes as “deserved reward for a project that speaks to the hearts of the Senegalese“. For him, this majority obtained in the National Assembly is proof of the confidence placed by the people in their program.

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As for the future, Pastef reassures and says it is aware of the expectations of young people, who were very mobilized during these elections. And there is no shortage of problems in a country where almost half the population is under 20 and unemployment is endemic. In the second quarter of 2024, young people who are neither in studies, nor in employment, nor in training represented 30.7% of the population aged 15 to 24.

Added to unemployment is the headache of illegal immigration. Last September, 39 people died in the sinking of a boat illegally transporting migrants to Europe off the Senegalese coast. These deaths add to an already long list of young migrants who will never reach the dream shores of El Dorado. According to the Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras, in the first five months of 2024, more than 5,000 people died trying to reach Spain by sea. This is the highest number of deaths since the NGO began collecting data in 2007.

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With a comfortable majority in the National Assembly, Pastef now has no more excuses. “The time for promises is over, the Senegalese are waiting for concrete results that will transform their daily lives“, say the young Dakar residents who have not signed a blank check to a government which has constantly said that it is “a government of rupture.»

This same aspiration for change is carried by the unsuccessful candidate of the Wareef coalition, “We give thanks to the Lord despite results that are not favorable to us. We remain grateful, because it is important to emphasize that politicians older and more experienced than us have sometimes never had the opportunity to be invested on a list» she said, hoping that “the elected deputies fully fulfill their mission with seriousness and responsibility.»

The Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Ousmane Sonko tandem is about to discover that the conquest of power has nothing to do with the exercise of power.