A Free Election in Senegal is No Small Matter

 By Henry Srebrnik, [Saint John, N.B.] Telegraph-Journal

On March 24, opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye won Senegal’s presidential election against former prime minister Amadou Ba. This was no small matter, as the contest followed several years of unrest and political crisis.

Incumbent President Macky Sall did not seek re-election, with his ruling United in Hope (BBY) coalition instead endorsing Ba. Sall had unsuccessfully sought to postpone the election, initially scheduled for Feb. 25, to Dec. 15. In fact, prior to that, he had even suggested that he might run for a third term, beyond the constitutional limit of two terms.

But even the proposed delay to Dec. 15 had angered Senegalese. Authorities in January suspended internet services and banned a protest march against the delay of the presidential election. Opposition parties and civil society groups demanded that the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest court, intervene.

It ruled on Feb. 15 that parliament’s unprecedented postponement of the presidential vote to mid-December was not in line with the constitution. So the March voting finally took place.

Of course we might put an asterisk next to the word “free” in describing the current contest. Ousmane Sonko, who finished third in the country’s 2019 presidential election, had been widely seen as the main challenger to Sall’s ruling party. But he was sentenced to two years in prison last June 1 after a court found him guilty of “corrupting youth,” and was declared ineligible.

His imprisonment triggered deadly clashes, with supporters taking to the streets and facing off with security officers. Amnesty International accused Senegalese authorities of responsibility for the deaths of at least 23 people, including three children, during violent demonstrations on June 1-2, But Sonko was kept in jail until just three days before the vote.

Sonko’s political ally Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who had also been jailed, on charges including defamation, but had not been sentenced, was therefore selected as the opposition’s candidate.

Both men were released after Senegal’s parliament on March 6 passed a law granting amnesty to all political prisoners arrested during protests since 2021. Amnesty International estimates that more than 1,000 opposition members and activists were imprisoned in the past three years under Sall’s rule.

Faye was previously secretary-general of Sonko’s Patriots of Senegal (PASTEF) party, which was dissolved by the government last year over allegations it had called for an insurrection. Former party members joined with others in a coalition, Liberate the People (YAW), to contest the election under Faye.

Their slogan “Sonko is Diomaye, Diomaye is Sonko” resonated with the electorate. Faye also benefitted from the support of the Mourides, the most influential Muslim brotherhood in Senegal, whose population is predominantly Muslim.

Things have not been going well in the West African country, so the election results were no surprise. About one third of the population of 18 million live in poverty. Successive administrations have struggled to curb youth unemployment, an increasingly urgent issue for its fast-growing population, more than 60 per cent of whom are now under the age of 25. The median age is 19.

The share of young Senegalese who are not employed or in school or training stood at 35 per cent in 2019. Since then the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has further squeezed the job market. It has also caused a cost-of-living crisis. These people voice frustration over a lack of jobs, and they formed the backbone of support for Sonko and Faye.

Senegal’s problems have not come out of nowhere. Observers often present the country as one of Africa’s most stable democracies. But this claim masks a much darker history. Sall has violently degraded the country’s democratic institutions. He shut down the country’s prestigious University of Dakar, closed since June 2023, cracked down on journalists, and gave a green light to violent attacks against protesters.

Sanko and Faye presented a vision for institutional reforms and more even wealth distribution, including plans to renegotiate the country’s mining and energy contracts with foreign entities, especially oil and gas contracts for projects which are due to start production later this year.

They also want Senegal to stop using the CFA franc, the West African single currency that is pegged to the euro, which is regarded as a relic of the colonial era. In other words, they want monetary sovereignty and an end to French political intervention.

The proposals have been labelled as irresponsible by their opponents, although Sonko has sought to quell such fears by saying they would only consider introducing a national currency if other reforms fail.

In their recently published book De la démocratie en Françafrique: Une histoire de l’impérialisme électoral (Democracy in Françafrique: A History of Electoral Imperialism), French journalist Fanny Pigeaud and Senegalese economist Ndongo Samba Sylla illustrate how the currency rules have worked to benefit French business and governments and African elites.

Senegal’s political class has long defended a system that largely serves French economic and political interests as well as those of a small cadre of local elites. Even when elections are held, winners rarely help the people who voted them into power. Sall was also a reformer when first elected.

What Faye and Sonko have voiced as their goal is, first and foremost, sovereignty. And Senegalese clearly want a democracy. Will the country’s ruling class let them have one?