Tensions Build Ahead Of Senegal Vote

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Tensions Build Ahead Of Senegal Vote

Thursday, 23 February 2012 05:49

(Dakar) – With just four days to go before presidential and legislative elections are held in Senegal, tensions in the capital are reaching a crescendo as the country slips further into a political crisis.

While it is business as usual for most in Dakar, an air of uncertainty hovers over Dakar, the site of daily protests and demonstrations as opposition parties struggle for space to campaign for Sunday's elections.

Obasanje Olusegun, the former Nigerian president, on an observer mission to the West African country, spent most of Wednesday in talks with opposition

Senegalese are expected to take to the polls at the end of the week, as tensions continue to mount [Reuters]

leaders in a bid to find a solution to opposition candidates' resolve that Abdoulaye Wade, the incumbent president, is not legible to run for a third term.

The Senegalese constitution prohibits incumbent presidents from serving more than two terms, but the country's highest court, the constitutional council, validated Wade's candidacy on January 27, saying that his first term did not count since it came before the two-term limit was introduced.

The court's decision has outraged many Senegalese citizens, resulting in a series of demonstrations and clashes between opposition supporters and police services. The M23 movement, an umbrella grouping of activists, opposition leaders and youth called the ruling "a constitutional coup".

The Ministry of Interior has banned rallies at Independence Square, and conducted a severe crackdown on opposition rallies in various parts of the city. It is a move that prompted Idrissa Seck, a leading opposition candidate, to describe Senegal to Al Jazeera, as a ''dictatorship''. ">"dictatorship".

Earlier in the week, protesters marched through Avenue William Ponty, close to Independence Square, singing and chanting: "He should go! He must go! He has to go!" in reference to President Wade.

Calls for revolution
Protesters waved Senegalese flags and held up placards reading ''Rend Toi" ("You have to surrender" in French), and "Na Deem" ("Must go" in Wolof) and "Wade D'ena" ("Wade is dead" in Wolof) and calling for a "Senegalese revolution", under the watchful eye of a thick security presence.

In a crowd dominated by young males, one older protester in his 40s, told Al Jazeera that he was at the rally to support the M23 movement against "President Wade's attempt to put his son in power".

Wade is widely believed to be grooming his son, Karim Wade, a powerful government minister, as his preferred successor.

Another younger demonstrator screamed: "We are tired, we are tired of his policies and wastage of funds!"

The crowd dispersed when riot police used grenade launchers to fire tear gas canisters into the crowd, prompting a stand-off between rock-wielding demonstrators and armed security forces.

Clashes between security forces and protesters have already resulted in at least six deaths, according to an official toll, though others suggest that the number has crept up to 10 deaths, since the constitutional council validated Wade's candidacy.

While the African Union delegation through the leadership of Olusegun have tried to address the crisis, analysts say it is difficult to see past the political stalemate.

"It is a stalemate. On one hand, Wade is obstinate and is at least 90-years-old, meaning that if he wins we would have a president that would finish his term at 97-years-old," Arame Tall, a researcher at John Hopkins University-Sais, told Al Jazeera.

Wade is officially 85 years old but is rumoured to be older.

Divided opposition
"On the other hand, we have a highly divided opposition, animated by personal ambition - and they are also guilty of trapping the public because they simply refuse to unite and create a strong front to confront the old man.

"The public has no choice, because they are faced with an old man they do not want and a fragmented opposition with no leadership," Tall said.

Observers are at a stretch to draw comparisons and parallels between the West African country and others in the region, though there are repeated murmurs that Senegal might by headed the way of botched elections and a possible violent standoff, as occurred in Ivory Coast following disputed elections in 2010.

But security experts in the region say that the assertion is unjustified and that though security might deteriorate, the country has very little in common with Ivory Coast.

Around sunset on Wednesday, as informal traders and businesses prepare to close, opposition leaders could be seen driving on the corniche in their motorcade - blaring the signature anti-Wade songs on stacked speakers aboard flat deck pick-up trucks.

But fears of violence remain high, and can be seen in the drawn shutters of department stores and cafes on some of the commercial avenues in Dakar as business rue losses and potential risks to property if the situation turned hairy.

There is also fear that pre-election violence could hurt voter turnout on Sunday, prompting calls from some candidates to delay the polls.

"People are going about their usual activities, but it is very stressful for locals because no one knows what might happen," said Arame Tall.
Source: Al Jazeeera

Comments

-1 #3 2012-02-24 13:42

When Bagbo insisted on clinging on to power,the world witnessed the carnage that followed.

Wade was a statesman that once earned my respect but now i cannot help but wonder what could be going on in the minds of such people as Nelson Mandela when he sees many African countries being torn apart by the sheer greed and incompetence of the leadership.

If ever ther is a region on this earth where tangible evidence exists of how national development can be retarded by the lousy leadership,then the African continent provides the best example of such.

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0 #2 2012-02-23 23:39

Ba Touray, come on man, your comments don't even make sense. You said let them kill each other and then turned around and started talking about peace. It seems you don't stand for anything, you are just bouncing everywhere.

Please try to make some sense when you use a public forum. Thanks and I hope there are no bad feelings.

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-6 #1 2012-02-23 14:26

let them kill each ohter senegalise think that are wise and dont know they are distroying thier peaceful country to be a president is a gift from god Gambian politics is crazy than thier but no Gambians will like to make protest against the current president even though their is abuse of humanity such as freedom of speech and many deadly activities carry out by the regime to intimidate the citizens. my appeal to the senegalise is that if they don`t love Mr. Wade let them not cast their votes to him that is the simplest way to get him out of the power. African are known for peace not a crack down and such a tenson especially in senegambia region. please my neighbours don`t set your country with fire. weither he has or don`t have the right to contest you can simply get him out by denying him your votes.

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