Supporters of presidential candidate Khalifa Sall during an election rally (Reuters)

The postponement paper fell, the election campaign began, and it became necessary for Senegalese President Macky Sall to pack his bags to leave the palace in which he had resided for 12 years. This is inevitable, especially after he failed to approve the postponement, and the Constitutional Council stood by, watching, blasting him. The requirements of a speech that was not intended to be a farewell sermon, so the opposition political forces and constitutional law jurists made it a farewell sermon.

As the days accelerate towards the deadline set for holding elections on March 24, Senegal is also accelerating in restoring its democratic health, after more than two years of faltering, conflict, and crises opened by the victory of the opposition, in the most important cities of the country, during the elections that took place at the beginning of the year. 2022, after which it became a competitive and influential parliamentary force.

During the past two years, the Senegalese street was filled with turmoil, while balls of fire were spreading between the strongest opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, and the power alliance led by Sall, and between those two big names, there were many other headlines of a very tense scene in the countries of “democratic exception” in Africa.

At the beginning of April, Senegal will have a new president, other than Macky Sall, whose departure is troubling him, according to his opponents, and which, as Senegalese observers see, weakens his bet on his successor, the Senegalese Prime Minister, Amadou Bah, against whom specific opposition forces are gathering. The end of Sall’s rule is considered the beginning. Hopes for her, and while Amadou Ba devoted himself to his electoral campaign, his successor, Interior Minister Siddiqui Kaba, assumed the first ministry to run a government whose mandate would end with the handing over of the presidency to the new elect.

The legal debate now seems narrow, and is mainly related to the date of the second round of elections, as President Sall proposed that it be held before the end of his term on the second of next April, while the Constitutional Council sees no harm in holding it after that, as long as the first was held during the president’s term. Outgoing.

Many expect that the country has safely overcome the worst of the political crisis that almost destabilized it, and has entered a "festive" atmosphere, with 19 candidates starting their election campaigns, with many of them feeling a democratic victory after overcoming the postponement battle, with the hope that it will culminate in an electoral victory.

General view of the Senegalese capital Dakar (French)

4 deadlines within two months

The past two months did not pass quietly in Senegal, like the previous two years. The past 60 days were full of variables, especially with regard to the final deadlines for the elections, which rolled four times like a highly flammable ball of fire, before the Constitutional Council was able to approve them on March 24 of this year. The rolling dates are as follows:

  • The constitutional date is February 25, 2024: This is the original date agreed upon in advance, before President Macky Sall pulled out his rug and announced the postponement of the elections until the end of the current year, which led to the political and legal forces rising up against him, and forcing him to return to feeling his portfolios again. And preparing to carry it outside the presidential palace.

  • Extension until the end of the year: on the twenty-fifth of the last month of the year, a proposal that the opposition saw as a coup against the constitution and the democratic process, before it was approved by Parliament, which is controlled by a relative majority loyal to President Macky Sall, but the Constitutional Council strongly rejected that date, and imposed a return. To Constitution Avenue.

  • The hesitant deadline: which was finally settled on the date of March 24, 2024, after another date was proposed, which is March 31, for the presidential ship to finally dock after a long hesitation on the twenty-fourth, starting for Senegal to enter the post-Macky Sall phase, which He tried to restore the end of his rule after a shock, trying to extend it by conducting a rapid national dialogue, which ended with the approval of an almost comprehensive amnesty for crimes and mistakes with a political dimension, which represents a “positive farewell token” from President Sall to most of his political opponents, or at least to draw positive features for a departing president. He did not find enough time to chart the full path for his successor.

Two years of conflict... crises and violence

With the completion of the presidential elections in their supposed second session next April, a new situation will begin, and it is widely expected that Senegal will have regained much of its political health, and new priorities for the elected president will begin, especially since the competition is intense, and the chances of the candidate for power are decreasing significantly. Great, amid growing talk about Sall backing down from betting on his supposed successor.

Despite the opposition's accusations against the president, it does not describe him as stupid or helpless, as he possessed throughout his political history an exceptional political sense, which put him one step ahead of everyone on many occasions, and enabled him to gradually ascend to the top of the pyramid of power in the country.

This means that the opposition forces will take precautions more than once to confront him, and are preparing through many alliances to defeat his successor. Observers of the political scene in Senegal say that Sall may be exceptionally supportive or through an alternative plan for one of the candidates affiliated with the opposition spectrum, after he failed to win. Presenting an attractive candidate, and it may be the last cards the president will play to arrange the scene after his departure from power.

A demonstration in support of President Macky Sall after his decision to postpone the elections (Reuters)

Will Sall's departure end the political crisis?

Some aspects of modernity and new urbanism in Senegal were associated with President Sall, especially roads, bridges and the high-speed train. However, the last three years of his second mission were also a high-speed train rushing towards a political crisis that worsened in an unusual way in a country that gained its reputation for its uniqueness and democratic exceptionalism in a region ravaged by conflict. Its political security is undermined, and coups turn its fragile stability into continuous unrest.

Since 2021, the country has witnessed riots and severe violence between the police and supporters of opposition politician Ousmane Sonko, and the flames and violence also spread during February of the current year after the president’s decision to postpone the elections.

In total, dozens of people were killed during the clashes between the police and the demonstrators. Nearly 60 were killed, while the number of wounded reached hundreds. The prisons also received hundreds of people affiliated with the opposition.

Sonko's coming in third place in the 2019 elections did not help, enabling him to run for the 2024 presidential elections, as several restrictions prevented him from doing so, including the dissolution of his party, "Patriots for Action, Ethics and Fraternity", known by the abbreviation "Pastif", and his conviction by a court ruling.

It is not unlikely that Sonko will benefit from the general amnesty announced by President Macky Sall, and the same ruling is also expected with Sonko’s successor and presidential candidate, Basiro Diomaye Faye.

The most prominent candidates

The political scene in Senegal does not seem very clear, but more than that, waiting seems to prevail, and the arena is full of many variables, and it is difficult to predict the name of the next president, although several indicators limit the seriousness of the competition to the following names:

  • Ruling Alliance candidate Amadou Ba: He was the country's Prime Minister, before he resigned a few days ago, to devote himself to his electoral campaign. Ba comes from the Flan nationality, which is spread in the north of the country, and to which President Sall belongs, which is the second nationality in Senegal, after the Wolof.

Ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba (left) during his assignment session by Sall to assume the position of Prime Minister (Anadolu Agency)

Among his most prominent strengths that enhance his chances are the declared support he enjoys from the majority forces, in addition to the electoral weight possessed by the ruling party, which was reinforced by the fragmentation of the opposition’s power, after Sonko was prevented from running for office.


The man also has technical and administrative competence that was enhanced during the two terms of President Sall’s rule, during which he held several ministerial positions, culminating in assuming the Prime Minister’s Office (or what is known locally as the position of Prime Minister).

However, the candidate faces many obstacles, including:

A number of ruling party leaders complained about his nomination.

- The “hesitation” of President Sall’s position and the rumored “disagreements” between the two men is something that cannot be confirmed, but it resonates strongly among the Senegalese political elite, and there is no shortage of supporting indicators for it.

- Difficulty in influencing the convictions of forces opposing the regime.

  • Idrissa Seck: He is a former Prime Minister (between 2002 and 2004) and head of the “Riomi” party (Homeland in the Wolof dialect). This 64-year-old politician possesses multiple strengths, including his political, administrative and academic experience, and his long experience in multiple executive positions. In addition to his strong relations, especially with France, as he is considered one of its expected bets in the upcoming presidential elections, in addition to his popular strength through his Rumi party, which gave him second place in the 2019 elections after President Macky Sall, in addition to his relations with some Sufi orders, and the depth of his relations. With the majority, which may also make it a bet for those who are angry or unconvinced by the ruling party’s candidate.


    Presidential candidate Idrissa Seck during a gathering of his supporters in the last elections (Getty)

  • Khalifa Sall: The former mayor of Dakar, and one of the most prominent parliamentary figures in the country. He also held the position of minister in the Presidency of the Republic twice, and has a significant presence and influence in Dakar, the largest city in the country, and among the supporters of the former ruling Socialist Party, but he was also convicted of crimes of corruption and embezzlement of public funds before. He may be pardoned in 2019, which may negatively affect his chances in the presidential elections.

  • Bassero Diomai Faye: He holds the position of Secretary-General of the (defunct) Pastif Party and is running from behind bars, after submitting his candidacy file as a substitute for the party’s also imprisoned leader, Othman Sonko.

Diomai Faye was thrown in prison about a year ago on charges of defamation and insulting a judge in a post on social media.

Supporters of Songo and his presidential candidate Basserou Diomaye Faye (Reuters)

In addition to these, the votes of supporters of the candidates excluded from the race, especially Ousmane Sonko (if his candidate, Basiro Diomaye Faye, is not able to pass in the first round), and Wade, will be an influential element in shaping the presidential scene, forming a variable that is strongly capable of deciding the second round, in addition to This is the trend of religious authorities, especially the Muridism, which has a strong influence on the Senegalese street.

Among these various variables, Senegal appears to be on a new path, from returning to its democratic values, which were its most prominent protection, from slipping into the ancient African character in assuming or leaving power.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies