On Avenue George Pompidou, in the center of Dakar, an endless stream of vehicles. In this district bringing together large institutions, banks and street businesses, the Senegalese go about their business.

In front of the newsstand, a small group of people are chatting, looking at the front pages of the daily newspapers. All are devoted to the latest development of the political earthquake which is shaking Senegal: the interruption of the presidential election of February 25 by President Macky Sall, then its postponement to December 15 by the National Assembly.

“Hurry up, grab one now, they’re going fast at the moment,” jokes one customer.

Newspaper front pages dedicated to the postponement of the Senegalese presidential election, in Dakar, February 8, 2024. © David Rich

Behind the ambient calm, the subject is on everyone's lips. “When the two mandates are over, we must leave. We must respect the alternation. What we want is change,” asserts Abdoulaye, in an affable but resolute tone. A change primarily economic. The 42-year-old man is the driver of “Tiak Tiak”, these motorcycle taxis which crisscross the Senegalese capital night and day. He gets 10,000 CFA francs per day, or 15 euros, from which he must deduct fuel. The rest he sends to Casamance, in the south of the country, where he left his wife and four children three years ago.

“The Senegalese are not violent”

Supporting the opponent Ousmane Sonko, whose candidacy was invalidated, he intended to vote for his replacement candidate, Bassirou Diomaye Faye. The postponement of the presidential election is a hard pill to swallow but Abdoulaye is not surprised by the calm that prevails in the streets of Dakar.

“The Senegalese are not violent. The popular mobilization of last year caused destruction which shocked many,” he recalls, referring to the clashes following the sentencing of Ousmane Sonko to two years in prison. closed for a matter of morals.

"And then there is the danger. Many young demonstrators are still in prison. The government has taken steps to ban demonstrations and we now know that it is ready to respond."

At least 23 people lost their lives during the violence of June 1 and 2, 2023, according to Amnesty International, which denounced excessive use by the police.

Motorcycle taxis invade the sidewalks around Independence Square, in Dakar, February 8, 2024. © David Rich

Calls for mobilization

In the Plateau district, one of the oldest in the capital, many people claim their support for the Sonko camp. Some appear fatalistic like Abdoulaye, for whom the fight against the postponement of the election is already lost. Others believe that we must maintain pressure on the government and demonstrate opposition.

“Several candidates have committed to campaigning despite the postponement. Even if this trend is not massive, it is a strong act that must be continued,” said Abdourahmane, a seller-artisan in the twists and turns of the Sandaga market, the largest in Dakar.

"The Senegalese are patient, we are awaiting the result of the appeals to the Constitutional Council and the Supreme Court. But what is certain is that for me on April 2, the date of the end of his mandate, Macky Sall will not is no longer president.

Abdourahmane with his friends at the entrance to the Sandaga market, in Dakar, February 8, 2024. © David Rich

A collective bringing together around forty organizations from civil society held a press conference in Dakar on Thursday February 8, discussing a series of upcoming mobilizations in mosques, churches and schools, and raising the possibility of a strike. So many actions aimed at the same objective: the restoration of the electoral process for the holding of the vote on February 25.

“Deep disappointment”

On Independence Square, where office workers and informal workers rub shoulders, a few voices timidly claim to support the majority. While expressing their disappointment with the postponement of the election. “Macky Sall knocked us out,” quips a young executive in a blue suit, comparing the postponement of the election to a victory in the first round.

“Personally, I had planned to vote for a peace candidate,” he says, judging Pastef, Ousmane Sonko’s now dissolved party, too radical for his taste. “I would have chosen one of the candidates from the presidential majority or Karim Wade who I like very much. I was very disappointed that he could not run for this dual nationality thing. But I do not wish to extend, I'm not too comfortable on these subjects", he concludes, politely slipping away.

Further away, sitting on a bench, Enorck, a young accountant of Beninese origin, is having his shoes shined. “I don’t do politics and I understand that Macky Sall is very criticized today,” he concedes. "But we can still recognize that he was not idle during his two mandates. Infrastructure, development... Senegal is an economic lung in the sub-region. That's why I came to do it there. my studies and that I work there.

Next to him, a security agent from Dakar town hall listens, looking doubtful. He considers that these major projects were rather initiated by his predecessor Abdoulaye Wade. “Macky Sall only followed.” He says he is "surprised" and "deeply disappointed" by the postponement of the vote for which he considers the current president solely responsible.

13:10

Flags of Senegal in the streets of Dakar on February 4, 2022. © Seyllou, AFP

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