Senegalese voters have a crowded subject of 19 candidates to choose from once they vote this month to elect a brand new chief to switch President Macky Sall in a good election whose delay sparked considerations for the way forward for democracy within the West African nation.
The vote on March 24 will happen after Sall’s try and postpone the election, initially deliberate for February, was overturned by Senegal’s high election authority after weeks of violent protests.
The ruling by the Constitutional Council has been welcomed by many within the nation – however observers have warned it will not be the final twist within the saga. Already, a number of politicians have petitioned the courts to postpone the election anew, claiming the appliance course of for the candidates was flawed.
“Each week you could have a brand new type of scandal – that is Senegal,” stated Ndongo Samba Sylla, head of analysis and coverage for IDEAs, a community of political and financial analysts. “There may very well be new developments” within the days forward, he cautioned.
In the meantime, candidates are left with lower than two weeks to win over voters throughout the month of Ramadan, a interval normally devoted to religious reflection and worship quite than politics.
Right here’s a have a look at the primary candidates — and a standard thread that binds a few of them:
Bassirou Diomaye Faye
The 49-year-old tax inspector is the candidate of an opposition coalition that features members of the dissolved PASTEF celebration of Ousmane Sonko, a firebrand politician and fierce critic of Sall.
Sonko, who got here third within the 2019 presidential election, was broadly seen as the preferred candidate for this yr’s vote. However the opposition chief was detained in July after being convicted of “morally corrupting” the youth and was later barred from working over libel prices. Faye has been nominated by Sonko as his successor.
Sonko, like Faye, was a tax inspector.
Faye will search to capitalise on Sonko’s reputation, particularly amongst Senegal’s unemployed youth. Three out of 10 Senegalese aged 18 to 35 are unemployed. Youth joblessness is a matter additional exacerbated by the pace at which the inhabitants grows – it doubles each 25 years, in accordance with Afro Barometer knowledge.
However Faye has been in preventive detention since April, even whereas his face adorns T-shirts of opposition supporters, who’ve chanted his identify at marketing campaign rallies. He’s anticipated to be launched quickly as a part of an amnesty regulation.
“Freed or not freed, nearly all of Senegalese has already made their selection. Who desires to vote for Faye will vote for him,” stated Thiaba Camara, president of the civil society group Demain Senegal.
Faye has referred to as for the institution of a brand new nationwide forex; the renegotiation of contracts between the federal government and firms in sectors starting from vitality and mining to fishing; and a discount of presidential powers, together with the reintroduction of the vice presidency. He has additionally pledged to equally distribute earnings out of a gasfield that’s anticipated to begin manufacturing this yr.
Amadou Ba
A former prime minister, Ba was additionally as soon as a tax inspector. Ba is the presidential candidate of Sall’s Alliance for the Republic celebration. He ran the Ministry of Finance and Financial Planning from 2013 to 2019 and was the nation’s high diplomat in 2019 and 2020.
A Ba victory would imply coverage continuity with the earlier authorities, one thing that will possible guarantee overseas traders and assure a cohesive fiscal response at a time when Senegal wants the help of the Worldwide Financial Fund, which permitted a $1.8bn mortgage in June.
However as a result of the 62-year-old was a part of Sall’s authorities, he faces public dissatisfaction over the rollback of civil liberties beneath the outgoing president. Dozens of individuals had been killed and greater than 1,000 jailed within the political turmoil of the previous three years.
“Ba is perceived because the candidate who embodies the outdated system, one which by no means disconnected from constructions established since independence,” stated Hawa Ba, the top of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa.
Khalifa Sall
One other presidential hopeful is Dakar’s two-time mayor (no relation to the president).
The broadly standard politician was jailed for 5 years in 2018 on prices of fraud, which his supporters stated had been politically motivated. The conviction barred him from working within the following yr’s presidential election, through which he was seen as a powerful competitor to Macky Sall.
Following a presidential pardon, the previous lawmaker, who skilled as a instructor, was freed in 2019.
Sustainable growth has been central to Khalifa Sall’s electoral marketing campaign. He has stated he desires to concentrate on accountable water administration and equitable land distribution. Greater than 70 % of Senegal’s inhabitants lives off agriculture and the livestock sector.
Idrissa Seck
Till April, Seck was the top of the Financial, Social and Environmental Council.
The 63-year-old received 21 % of the vote within the 2019 presidential election, ending second within the race. After the vote, his Rewmi celebration joined President Sall’s ruling coalition.
Studies prompt Seck and Sall fell out after the previous declared his opposition to anyone in search of a 3rd time period, alluding to the latter’s suspected ambitions. Seck additionally argued that Sonko ought to have been allowed to run within the 2024 election.
Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne
Prime minister from 2014 to 2019, Dionne served because the chief of the Central Financial institution of West African States and the United Nations Industrial Growth Group. The company’s mandate is to help financial development in creating nations and economies in transition.
He’s a pc engineer by coaching. Dionne has pledged to be a “president of reconciliation” if elected and has pushed for “financial sovereignty” for Senegal.
Anta Babacar Ngom
Ngom is the one feminine candidate and could be the primary girls to function Senegal’s president if elected. A political newcomer, the 40-year-old runs Senegal’s largest poultry firm, which was based by her father.
She has stated she desires to spice up the non-public sector, promote free healthcare and reform the schooling system, together with including native languages on high of French.
