Senegal: very political controversy around the reform of the Dakar statute
Photo showing Christmas decorations in Dakar, Senegal on December 12, 2012. AP - Rebecca Blackwell
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Should the city of Dakar be - administratively - abolished as a community?
The Minister of Territorial Collectivities threw a stone in the pond.
According to Oumar Guèye, Dakar, like four other cities in the country - Pikine, Guédiawaye, Rufisque and Thiès - “have no reason to exist”.
In the perspective of the next local elections, a key stage before the presidential election of 2024, the question, very political, arouses a lively debate.
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With our correspondent in Dakar,
Charlotte Idrac
If Dakar was no longer a city, then there would be 19 separate municipalities.
If Dakar was no longer a city, then there would no longer be a mayor, but a president of the Departmental Council.
This is the option defended by Minister Oumar Guèye, who refers to the Code of local authorities.
But for the decentralization expert, Amadou Sène Niang, the Senegalese state continues to “nibble” on the prerogatives of the capital:
“
All the initiatives of the cities which are in the hands of the opposition are blocked administratively or politically.
The city of Dakar had initiated a bond loan which was refused by the State at the last minute.
If they are determined to destroy that city, it is because there are other targets.
"
► To read also: Senegal: what will Dakar look like in 2035?
"The Battle of Dakar"
Dakar has escaped the majority since the coming to power of President
Macky Sall
in 2012, with the ousted former mayor,
Khalifa Sall
(from 2009 to 2018), then one of his faithful,
Soham El Wardini
(since 2018).
A redistribution of the electoral system could make it possible to weaken the opposition a little more.
For the political scientist Papa Fara Diallo, the power seeks at all costs to take control of the capital:
“
The battle for Dakar will take place.
(...) President Macky Sall is in the process, with the cooperation of certain opposition leaders, of building a grand coalition in order to be able to conquer the maximum number of local authorities possible in order to be able to calmly prepare for the 2024 elections.
"
No official date has yet been set for the local elections scheduled, in principle, before March 2021.
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