Senegalese elections (Al Jazeera)
From the first round, and with a significant difference from the ruling party’s candidate, Basirou Diomaye Faye, the “40-year-old young man,” the candidate of the “African Patriots of Senegal for Ethics and Fraternity” party (PASTIF), won the presidential elections that the country recently witnessed, confirming Senegal’s unique democratic distinction in a democratic environment. A turbulent region called West Africa, known as the belt of coups on the continent.
These elections witnessed great controversy, both in terms of the timing of their holding after the decision of outgoing President Macky Sall last February to postpone them and Parliament’s support for that, in exchange for the Constitutional Council’s rejection of the decision and insistence on holding them without postponement, in addition to the presence of the winning president in prison on charges of contempt. The judiciary a year ago, but he and his mentor and professor, Ousmane Sonko, head of the Bastif party, were released under a presidential pardon issued a few days before the elections, and thus Basiru left his prison absences to the presidential palace in Dakar.
The external environment played an important role in strengthening rejection of France, especially in light of the recent coups in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso against regimes that were traditionally subordinate to Paris.
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Here, several observations can be made regarding these “exceptional” elections on the African continent:
First: This is the first election in which outgoing President Macky Sall did not run, as the constitution prohibits the president from running for more than two terms. Here, Sall respected, albeit superficially, the constitution, and did not run for the presidency. Although he announced this last summer, his decision more than a month ago to postpone the elections due to one of the candidates’ appeal against some judges of the Constitutional Council, raised suspicion in the hearts of many, especially among the opposition forces. Regarding the possibility that he may be the beneficiary of this postponement in order to extend his stay in power.
Second: This is also the first election in which the opposition decides in the first round against the presidential candidate. In the 2000 elections, Abdellah Wade, the opposition candidate, won in the second round against President Abdou Diouf, and the matter was repeated again in the 2012 elections, when the opposition candidate won. Mackie Sale vs. Wade. It is an indicator of the integrity of the elections that were held under regional and international supervision.
Third: This decision in the first round for the opposition candidate may be behind internal and external reasons:
Internally: The campaigns of repression against political opposition figures in the last three years, especially against the head of the Bastif Party, Ousmane Sonko, and its Secretary-General, Basiru, have led to a state of coordination between the opposition forces on the one hand, as well as an increase in popular sympathy for Sonko and Basiru, especially after their arrest. They were imprisoned for political, not legal, reasons, not to mention the recent deterioration of the economic conditions in the country. According to International Monetary Fund data, the growth rate of Senegal’s gross domestic product declined from 5.5% to 4.2% in 2022, and the average inflation rate also rose significantly to reach To 9.6% in 2022 compared to 2.2% in 2021, in addition to the presence of a very active civil society compared to others in many African countries.
All of this pushed in the direction of the necessity of change, especially since the Pastif Party raised the banner of the necessity of liberation from French dependency and turning its back on it, and accused the ruling regime of bowing down to Paris, which is considered to be in actual control of the reins of affairs, and that it is the reason for the economic and political situation in the country.
Externally: The external environment played an important role in strengthening this rejection of France, especially in light of the recent coups in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso against regimes that were traditionally subordinate to Paris.
Fourth: The victory of the Pastev candidate over the rest of the 19 candidates is due to the party’s political agenda, which raised the slogan of fighting corruption in all its political, economic, and administrative types, which spread strongly in the country during the Sall era, in addition to adopting the idea of “systemic change.” Renewing the methods of public administration, and introducing constitutional amendments that end the concentration of powers in the hands of the president of the country, with the possibility of his removal. His proposal to abolish the position of Prime Minister and create the position of Vice President, not to mention his agenda to reform the judiciary, which from his point of view is considered a “politicized” weapon against opponents, as well as the establishment of a national financial prosecutor’s office with the authority to prosecute crimes related to serious delinquency in economic and financial matters.”
Perhaps this stems from the fact that both Sonko and Basero are primarily tax inspectors, as their government job allowed them to uncover many corruption files.
Fifth: The positive and strong participation of young people in the elections, and voting in favor of the candidate of the Pastif Party, which is the party based on these youth bases. They were influenced by the party’s rhetoric regarding confronting unemployment, and the necessity of putting an end to French influence, with the necessity of having an alternative national currency to the African “French” franc. "Unified West Africa, whose central bank is located in the capital, Dakar.
Sixth: There were no acts of violence during the elections, despite the atmosphere of tension that prevailed before them, which means the neutrality of the police and the army, and not submitting to the directions of the ruling party, which prompted its candidate to announce his defeat and congratulate Basiru even before the official announcement of the results, to resolve the controversy that some people are witnessing. Other countries suffer from constant challenges to the results, whether by the opposition candidate, or even the presidential candidate in some cases, who refuses to acknowledge defeat, which may result in the country entering a spiral of violence, such as “the cases of President Kibaki in Kenya 2007, and Mugabe in Zimbabwe 2008.” .
Challenges facing the young president
Despite this democratic wedding that Senegal witnessed in a turbulent regional environment, the road is not paved with roses for the young president, the “tax inspector,” as he faces many challenges.
First: Lack of political experience. He did not hold any political position throughout his life, except for being one of the founders of the Bastif Party and serving as its Secretary-General. In addition, he was not a primary candidate, and that Othman Sonko, the head of the party, was the one who pushed him to run, after he was unable to run. Because a court ruling was issued against him.. Consequently, many voters voted for Basiro as “Sonko’s” candidate, and not in his personal capacity, in light of the principle of partisan commitment to voting, and this is a point that may take away a lot of his credit against Sonko, amid fears that the latter will be in control. The country may actually be in control, or the country may witness a conflict between the two sides, which may be contained by sharing power, or the conflict may come out into the open, leading to the beginning of the collapse from within.
Second: How to satisfy his partners in the voting coalition, since many of the votes were obtained from Sall’s opponents, those who joined the Pastif coalition as a punitive vote, such as former Prime Minister Aminata Toure, and last-minute supporters such as the Democratic Party of Senegal, led by Karim Wade, the unlikely presidential candidate; Because of his acquisition of French citizenship, and therefore how will the continued loyalty of these people be guaranteed, and will he hold early parliamentary elections? To ensure that his alliance obtains a majority, allowing him to implement his agenda that brought him to power?... “The constitution allows this two years after the previous elections that took place in 2022.”
Third: How to achieve the national reconciliation that he spoke about in his first speech after announcing his actual victory in the elections, and how to reconcile this reconciliation with the rupture that he considered to be his electoral slogan in the face of Sall’s regime that has penetrated the joints of the country. If he uses the exclusionary approach against these people, will they surrender easily, or will they lead a counter-revolution against him?!
Fourth: His position on the country’s secularism, especially since he is described as a “religious” man, and there are those who say; He has “Salafi” tendencies. It is true that he decided these two matters in a previous statement to the French newspaper Le Monde, saying: “He will not change his worship or practices,” while emphasizing his commitment to the secular character of the country. But the practical aspect remains the most important in this matter, especially since this The secular approach was one of the reasons for the emergence of jihadist youth movements against the regime.
Fifth: The relationship with the West, especially France, as well as Russia. Will he actually be able to turn his back on France and abandon the African franc, in exchange for an independent national currency on the one hand, in addition to his talk about an alternative African currency within the framework of the ECOWAS countries? It currently includes 12 countries,” or will he manage relations on equal grounds, as he stated in his first speech, “What we want is a win-win partnership”? And will Moscow be the alternative to France, as happened in some countries in the region that witnessed recent coups, especially since it did not In a previous statement to Le Monde, he also ruled out the possibility of cooperation with the Russians?
Sixth: The relationship with Mauritania, the northern neighbor, especially with regard to the gas fields shared between the two countries, as his party believes that the agreements signed with it were not transparent and did not take into account the economic interests of Senegal as much as they ensured profit for the Western companies concerned. Therefore, the question remains: Will he keep these contracts, will he cancel them individually, or will they be renegotiated?
Conclusion: The experience of the recent presidential elections demonstrated the possibility of peaceful change through the ballot boxes through the presence of a conscious people adhering to their constitutional rights, and political parties that are not linked to external agendas, intersecting with an active and effective civil society, as well as the neutrality of state institutions, and on top of that, weak external support for the ruling party. , or for a specific candidate.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.