Senegal: after the government reshuffle, new deal within the opposition
Ousmane Sonko (here in January 2019) is now the number 1 opponent. SEYLLOU / AFP
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3 min
In Senegal, the opposition entered the government thanks to the reshuffle announced Sunday, November 1.
A reshuffle which announces a recomposition of the Senegalese opposition.
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With our correspondent in Dakar,
Charlotte Idrac
"
At least that has the merit of clarifying the debate, of seeing who is with Macky Sall and who is not,
" launches a PDS executive.
Thanks to the reshuffle, the opposition
entered the government on
Sunday
.
Idrissa Seck, who came second in the 2019 presidential election, takes the head of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, and two members of her party, Rewmi, are appointed ministers.
Oumar Sarr, former tenor of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) of Abdoulaye Wade, obtains the portfolio of Mines.
Before entering the presidential system, Idrissa Seck was tipped to become the leader of the opposition.
Now, it is Ousmane Sonko, who came third in the last presidential election, who is the number 1 opponent.
“
I think Idrissa Seck's entry will leave a certain void in the opposition, quite logically.
The one who will pass for the natural leader of the opposition, it will be Ousmane Sonko
”, underlines Alioune Badara Diop, professor of political science.
Need for a united and dynamic opposition
Who else to weigh in against the majority?
Khalifa Sall, the former mayor of Dakar pardoned last year by Macky Sall, remains ineligible and very discreet.
As for the PDS, it is weakened by internal divisions over the place granted to Karim Wade, the son of the former president, exiled in Qatar.
Some members of the liberal party evoke, in a personal capacity, an alliance with the Pastef of Ousmane Sonko.
“
Sonko hasn't said a word about it.
Ousmane Sonko criticizes the system.
Making an alliance with the PDS will not be well understood.
But, in any case, today, what would save the opposition is to form a dynamic group.
We need a strong opposition in a democracy
”, estimates Moussa Diaw, research professor at Gaston Berger University.
Next deadline and next test for the opposition: local elections, scheduled, in principle, before March 2021.
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