World Courant
Senegal is making ready for elections – one thing that was removed from sure a month in the past.
Greater than seven million folks within the West African nation are registered to vote on Sunday to elect a successor to President Macky Sall, who has been in energy for 12 years.
Nineteen candidates are vying for the nation’s high job and have spent the previous two weeks campaigning in a good election race. For the primary time since Senegal turned impartial within the Sixties, not one of the candidates is a sitting president.
Though no clear frontrunner has emerged, analysts say the actual fact that elections are going down is a reduction for a lot of.
The run-up to Sunday’s vote was marred by its justifiable share of political drama. Initially scheduled for February 25, incumbent Sall plunged the nation into chaos final month when he introduced he was suspending the vote till December.
The transfer sparked lethal protests and opposition from the opposition and Sall’s critics, who noticed the delay as an try and violate the nation’s structure and circumvent the president’s two-term restrict.
In the end, a call by the Constitutional Council to override the postponement led to Sall designating March 24 as election day. However the debacle has shaken Senegal’s fame as a secure democracy in an usually politically unstable area.
“Folks need Senegal to set the tone for the remainder of the area and so they wish to make it clear that when your mandate is over, you need to depart,” mentioned NDongo Samba Sylla, head of analysis and coverage for IDEAs, a community of political events. and financial analysts.
Greater than 16,000 polls will likely be open throughout the nation from 8am to 6pm GMT on Sunday. To safe the highest job and keep away from a second spherical of elections, a candidate must win greater than 50 % of the vote.
Who’re the primary candidates?
The primary opposition coalition is headed by Bassirou Diomaye Faye. The 43-year-old has changed opposition chief Ousmane Sonko, who was barred from working within the election amid defamation allegations.
Faye and Sonko have been the preferred figures within the run-up to the elections.
Their expertise as tax directors has elevated colleagues’ confidence that they are going to deal with corruption, push for accountability and promote a extra equitable distribution of the nation’s assets. They’ve additionally made daring statements about doable financial reforms and the renegotiation of mining and power contracts.
The duo has introduced themselves as an anti-establishment drive that wishes a radical break with the earlier authorities. Nonetheless, analysts warned that their tone will soften if they arrive to energy.
“Their radical discourse is more likely to change considerably if they arrive to energy, as they must make compromises with actors who will likely be essential for them to manipulate,” mentioned Gilles Yabi, founder and president of WATHI, a suppose tank in West -Africa.
One other candidate is former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, appointed by Sall because the ruling social gathering’s presidential selection. He’s seen as an orthodox determine who beforehand held numerous positions of energy. A victory for Ba would imply coverage continuity with the earlier authorities, one thing that would supply certainty for international traders. But he belongs to the ruling Benno Bokk Yakaar (United in Hope) coalition, whose recognition has been eroded by years of human rights setbacks.
There may be additionally former Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, who has dubbed himself the “president of reconciliation,” and two-time Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall, who’s working for a fourth time.
The one feminine candidate is businesswoman Anta Babacar Ngom – a political newcomer who runs Senegal’s largest poultry firm.
Supporters of opposition determine Ousmane Sonko sing and dance throughout a rally in Dakar (File: John Wessels/AFP)
What are crucial points?
Regardless of the nation being thought of one of many continent’s fastest-growing economies, the notion amongst peculiar Senegalese is that wealth shouldn’t be equally distributed.
Folks have proven dissatisfaction with the nation’s financial insurance policies as inflation is slowly falling. Greater than 60 % of Senegalese believed that the financial state of affairs within the nation was dangerous in 2023, virtually double that of the earlier 12 months.
Youth unemployment will likely be a serious concern for the brand new president, simply because it was for the earlier president. In line with a report by Afrobarometer, three in ten Senegalese between the ages of 18 and 35 are unemployed. The disaster is exacerbated by the speed at which the inhabitants is rising – doubling each 25 years, the report added.
Because of an absence of prospects and with round a 3rd of the inhabitants dwelling beneath the poverty line, the variety of folks making an attempt to go away Senegal on crumbling picket boats soared final 12 months and, in line with Spanish migration, has virtually reached its restrict within the first six months of 2023 1,000 folks died. watchdog Strolling Borders.
One other downside is the extreme focus of energy within the palms of the president – a serious criticism of outgoing chief Sall. Candidates have campaigned on the necessity to create extra checks and balances within the system to keep away from an institutional disaster just like the one which rocked the nation a month earlier than the election.
“One of the crucial vital matters is about tips on how to reform establishments and tips on how to transfer past worsening presidentialism,” mentioned Alioune Tine, political analyst and founding father of the AfricaJom Heart suppose tank.
“Energy is just too concentrated within the palms of the president and this will create institutional crises,” he added.
Voters in Senegal will forged their ballots on March 24 after weeks of unrest following President Sall’s try and postpone the election (File: John Wessels/AFP)
What’s the state of the nation on the eve of the elections?
Sall can depend on financial success. The nation has witnessed a median development of 5 % over the previous decade – earlier than development stagnated as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
However earlier than that, international direct funding within the nation was rising steadily, reaching practically $2.6 billion in 2021, an eightfold enhance in comparison with a decade earlier. The nation was additionally within the midst of main reforms final 12 months below a $1.9 billion mortgage from the Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF). New pure fuel tasks are anticipated to spice up Senegal’s development to double digits by 2025, the IMF mentioned.
Sall has additionally made Senegal enticing to traders by being an outspoken critic of the navy coups which have rocked the area. Since 2020, energy grabs have taken place in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
However these successes have eroded as Sunday’s vote comes after years of home political unrest which have tarnished his picture.
The previous three years have been marked by lethal protests, web shutdowns and a decline in human rights, rights teams say. No less than 40 folks have been killed in violent clashes since 2021 and authorities have arrested as much as 1,000 opposition figures, in line with Human Rights Watch.
After his failed election delay, Sall appeared to melt his tone in a transfer that many see as a method to make a clear exit. He organized protests and launched a controversial amnesty legislation to launch a whole bunch of political prisoners.
Folks watch President Sall throughout a press convention broadcast on nationwide tv in a barbershop in Dakar (File: Michele Cattani/AFP)
The 2024 elections in Senegal: why does it matter? | Elections Information
Africa Area Information ,Subsequent Massive Factor in Public Knowledg
