Senegal: despite the lull, the standoff continues between the Sonko camp and the government
Supporters of Ousmane Sonko, in Dakar, March 5, 2021 (illustrative image).
REUTERS - ZOHRA BENSEMRA
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
On Saturday, at the request of the Caliph General of the Mourides, the opposition agreed to suspend “sine die” its demonstrations to avoid the risk of further violence in Senegal.
But on the ground, if the lull is real, the crisis is not resolved.
It's all about the balance of power.
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With our special correspondent in Dakar,
Carine Frenk
According to a new assessment of the M2D, the coalition that supports the opponent Ousmane Sonko, the toll of the recent riots now stands at thirteen dead, ten according to a government source.
And nearly 600 wounded, according to the Red Cross.
At the request of the religious guides,
Ousmane Sonko
therefore had to
agree to suspend the demonstrations
.
He could not do otherwise a few days after the worst clashes the country has known in a decade.
It would have been to take the risk of alienating part of public opinion.
“
The brotherhood system is so powerful, even for the anti-system opponent
,” one analyst quips.
In doing so, it is an opportunity for him to present himself as a responsible politician, but he does not give up the streets for all that.
An M2D executive warns: “
It depends on the treatment that will be made of our requirements.
But demonstrating is a right that we fully intend to exercise.
"
"
In return
", the protest movement has indeed transmitted a
"ten point memorandum
".
The M2D demands in particular the "
immediate release
" of those it considers to be "
political prisoners
", the "
end of the plot against Ousmane Sonko
" and also demands that the "
constitutional and moral impossibility
" of President Macky Sall be recognized. "
To run for a third term
" in 2024.
Macky Sall under pressure
Opposite, President Macky Sall does not want to show that he is acting under pressure, but more than a signal, it is a serious alert, an electroshock.
According to one observer, whether the head of state tries the third term or renounces it, he would not like to face him Ousmane Sonko, nor as the only opponent, and even less as a successor.
It is possible that he opens the political game: why not an amnesty in favor of Khalifa Sall, the former mayor of Dakar and Karim Wade, the son of the former president, so as not to leave Ousmane Sonko alone to occupy the ground ?
"
We are not there yet,
" said a former minister.
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