The election in Senegal, an African country, ended with quite an unprecedented outcome. Just a few days ago, the president-elect was in jail and the press called him ‘anti-system’ and ‘an outsider’. These developments have direct, and quite unpleasant, consequences for France. Now, what’s this all about?
Is it a long way from a prison cell to a president’s chair? Not too long, as the example of Senegal, a minor African state, has shown recently. It turned out just 10 days is enough to leave prison, register as a presidential candidate, run a brisk presidential campaign, and win the election.
Just a couple of weeks ago, the Senegalese politician Bassirou Diomaye Faye was peacefully whiling away his time in jail together with the opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and waited for the outcome of the election scheduled for March 24. However, the country’s incumbent president Macky Sall decided to act in good faith and pardoned those sentenced for political charges.
Clearly, a seasoned politician, Macky Sall worked out his ‘good faith’ well in advance. Let alone the fact that he wanted to postpone the presidential election, but seeing the mass protests, he understood he was walking on very thin ice (even considering this was taking place in Africa). To calm people down, Macky Sall opted for an amnesty and promised not to run for re-election (which could be his third term).
Ousmane Sonko and Diomaye Faye were released from jail on March 14. For Sonko, a purely democratic provision turned up in the laws, which was needed to ban him from running for office immediately after the release. As for the now ex-president, he was not feared by Faye. The French government-backed media not interested in changes in Senegal called him ‘much less popular and less charismatic’.
The anticipation was clear: already 18 candidates were to run for election including the ruling party candidate Amadou Ba, the former prime minister, and Khalifa Sall, the mayor of Dakar. Even if Faye had been the 19th candidate and got at least some votes, there would have been a second round and backstage negotiations of candidates to get votes, and the ruling party cut its teeth on such things. They would settle for good, agree and lobby Amadou Ba into the president’s seat.
More cautious French journalists wrote before the election that ‘the election outcome was completely unpredictable’, while the stakes were whether the state would follow the same course or fully change it. Faye, who actively entered the race, was the one who supported the policy change, which the French didn’t much like, as they were used to seeing ‘a safe haven’ in Senegal compared to its West African neighbours with their endless military coups.
However, the main reason of the concerns is that ‘Dakar is keeping close ties with the West, while Russia is strengthening its positions around it’. According to the accounts of a Point’s correspondent from the field, in Dakar, the Senegalese themselves are more concerned about the domestic affairs, not foreign policy. The voters have been listing specific issues: lack of free healthcare, schools existing only on paper, poverty, young people trying to reach Europe in boats, unemployment.
‘We want change’, says a female voter. ‘Frankly, life in Senegal is too expensive, it is hard to make a living, people are penniless and tired’. She also adds: ‘They want to punish those who are governing them’.
The candidate Amadou Ba said on the way to cast his ballot: ‘No doubt, we will know the name of the new president by the end of the day’. Well, we did learn the name, but it came as ‘a burst of thunder’. Winning the election in the first round was the same uncharismatic and, allegedly, unpopular Faye whom French journalists called ‘anti-system’ and ‘an outsider’. According to first results, 53.7 per cent of voters cast their ballots in his favour.
‘This victory brings a new political set-up, new people have taken power. During his election campaign, Bassirou Diomaye Faye said he wanted to break clean with the past. He will have a lot to do now and will be judged by his actions’, notes Babacar Ndiaye, a political analyst.
Before the election, Faye stated that Senegal should gain economic independence, for which it would need to exit the CFA franc zone joined by many countries of this world region. He also repeatedly spoke about the need to fight corruption clearly hinting at the current leadership lining their pockets. Faye himself, running for the election, openly published his property statement which includes land and a savings account with 6.6 thousand dollars on its balance.
However, probably most of all Faye encouraged Senegal to become a truly sovereign state, which develops its relationship without harming its interests. Oil and gas production should begin in Senegal this year and Faye made a statement that contracts had to be revised on terms that are more favourable. The same is relevant for mineral production.
There are some opinions that the statements of the freshly minted president are utterly populist. First, revising contracts made on behalf of the state is not so easy, and, second, even the widest sovereignty does not mean the country would prosper for the envy of others. However, the progress in this direction at least looks like a milestone.
Rida Lyammouri, a Morrocan political analyst, notes that ‘the fact that the opposition won the election means there will be great changes in Senegal’s domestic and foreign policies’. The intent to drift away from France, a former colonial power, may define the foreign policy of the new government, the expert believes.
‘Until now, Russia was not among our security partners’, said Faye. ‘But we do not exclude any states from the list of our potential partners’. Neighbouring countries, including Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which have gone through military coups, opted for breaking ties with the former parent state, while developing and strengthening their ties with Russia. It may be likely Senegal will take the same path.