Legislative in Senegal: negotiations begin, 3 deputies at the center of the game

The hemicycle of the Senegalese National Assembly in Dakar (illustrative image) RFI / Guillaume Thibault

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3 mins

The legislative elections barely over, the game of political alliances begins in Senegal.

According to the provisional results published Thursday, August 4, the two main coalitions are neck and neck and neither of these camps therefore obtains an absolute majority in the National Assembly.

The game of negotiations will therefore open and all eyes are on 3 deputies, who come neither from Beno Bokk Yakaar nor from Yewi Askan Wi.

These 3 figures could well have the role of kingmakers.

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Here are three deputies who probably did not expect to be at the heart of politics.

Thierno Alassane Sall from Alternative pour une Assemblée de rupture, Pape Djibril Fall from Servants and Pape Diop from Bokk Gis Gis.

These three deputies, however isolated, can indeed tip the absolute majority of the new National Assembly: Macky Sall therefore needs one vote, the opposition three.

Although they presented themselves as opponents of the head of state during the campaign, nothing is fixed in a country where electoral transhumance is recurrent. 

Thierno Alassane Sall, intimate and former Minister of Energy of Macky Sall distanced himself from the president in 2017. The former mayor of Dakar, Pape Diop, also, in 2018, he declared: "

”.

Coming from the new generation, the journalist Pape Djibril Fall enters politics. 

But these three deputies, who have therefore distanced themselves from the head of state, are not on good terms with opposition leader Ousmane Sonko either, who accused them at the end of the campaign of "

". 

►

The verdict of the polls therefore reshuffles the cards on the Senegalese political spectrum with an opposition that is rising to the height of power.

And the game of alliances was not long in coming.

On the opposition side, Lamine Thiam - the national representative of Wallu Senegal - was clear: these coalitions campaigned on the same themes as them.

" 

," he said, extending his hand to them.

We invite the opposition to strengthen its unity, it is already acquired at the level of the Wallu/Yewwi coalition.

We have three other coalitions which are victorious, which have MPs.

These coalitions have built their campaign on the same themes as Wallu/Yewwi, which is why we call on them to form with the vast majority of Wallu/Yewwi.

Lamine Thiam, national representative of Wallu Senegal

Thea Olivier

In any case, discussions are underway within the coalitions of these three deputies to establish the procedure to follow and respond to the outstretched hands.

Thierno Bocoum, spokesman for Alternative pour une Assemblée de rupture de Thierno Alassane Sall, explains that no final decision has been taken for the moment.

“

”, he specifies.

These political negotiations could last: the new Assembly will not be installed until next September.

What analysis can be made of the result of these legislative elections where President Macky Sall's coalition won by a very short margin with 82 seats out of the 165 in the National Assembly?

This is, to say the least, a big disappointment for the government, says Mamadou Lamine Sarr, professor and researcher in political science at the Virtual University of Senegal.

There is a turning point, a message from the population.

(…) Many Senegalese feel disappointed, sometimes betrayed by the current political class and especially those in power.

And so, in my opinion, they sent a message about the management and governance of the country, to tell people "you have to govern together".

Mamadou Lamine Sarr, research professor in political science at the Virtual University of Senegal

Claire Fages

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• Senegal