Senegalese President Macky Sall brings together on Wednesday a council of ministers scrutinized as rarely, under foreign and national incentives to put an end to the dangerous crisis caused by the last minute postponement of the presidential election.
President Sall faces pressure from important international partners, the opposition and civil society to abandon the postponement to December 15 of the election initially scheduled for February 25.
He is also confronted with calls from those in Senegal who, for or against the change of calendar, are worried about the risk of tumult and urge him to take the path of appeasement.
The weekly council of ministers promises to be a milestone in one of the most serious crises experienced in decades by this country readily praised for its stability.
Three sources close to the presidency confirmed this.
The political world is buzzing about the possibility of an amnesty which could be discussed in the Council of Ministers before being the subject of a text to be adopted by Parliament.
This would involve erasing the offenses committed in the context of the unrest that Senegal has experienced since March 2021. They have caused dozens of deaths and led to hundreds of arrests.
One of the main candidates announced for the 2024 presidential election, Ousmane Sonko, but also his second at the head of the dissolved Pastef party, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, have been detained since 2023. Ousmane Sonko is presented as the main potential beneficiary of an amnesty .
Alioune Tine, cited with Pierre Goudiaby Atepa as two civil society figures who played good offices between the presidency and Ousmane Sonko's camp, declared in the media that the latter would be released in the coming days.
No government official has confirmed such talks or the existence of a proposed amnesty.
President Sall, elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019, provoked an outcry beyond the opposition by announcing on February 3 the postponement of the presidential election, three weeks before the deadline.
The National Assembly set the new electoral date for December 15 and extended the mandate of President Sall, supposed to expire on April 2, until his successor takes office.
The opposition calls for a
“constitutional coup”
.
Security forces suppressed demonstration attempts.
Clashes left three people dead.
There are more than 260 arrests according to the UN, Human Rights Watch and the opposition.
An “open national dialogue”
The United States and France called on President Sall to hold the election as quickly as possible.
Rights activists have criticized the excessive use of force and restrictions on the right to protest and access to the internet.
The opposition suspects the presidential camp of making arrangements with the calendar because it is sure of the defeat of its candidate, Prime Minister Amadou Ba, designated by Macky Sall to succeed him.
She suspects a maneuver to keep President Sall in power, even if he repeats that he will not run again.
The president justified the postponement by the heated quarrels sparked by the pre-electoral process and his fear that a contested vote would provoke new outbursts of violence after those of 2021 and 2023. The presidency published a video on social networks in favor of an
“open national dialogue”
with a view to an
“indisputable”
election .
The video shows the head of state with several opponents and a photo of him and Ousmane Sonko greeting each other.
Pastef has so far rejected the offer of dialogue and insisted on respecting the timetable.
Ousmane Sonko was disqualified, but the Constitutional Council validated the candidacy of his second, Mr. Faye, who, although detained, established himself as a serious contender for victory.
Another leading candidate, Khalifa Sall, refuses to dialogue without reestablishing the calendar.
Former Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, dissident candidate from the presidential camp, on the contrary said he was ready for dialogue and
"fundamentally open"
to an amnesty, including for Ousmane Sonko, in the daily
l'Observateu
r.
Fear of violence is widespread.
Serigne Babacar Sy Mansour, Caliph of the Tidianes, one of the great and powerful Muslim brotherhoods, has, in a rare occurrence, published a press release to urge the Head of State to
“favor consultation”
and the opposition to
“accept any hand tense
.
It is about getting out
“as soon as possible (from) this impasse which (...) could plunge our country into a night of regrets and desolation”
, he said.
He calls on his followers to be wary of all violence.
Several private sector employer organizations have, in a joint press release, called on
“political actors to talk to each other”
.
They invoke the
“need to preserve private investments and economic activity”
and are alarmed by the
“disastrous consequences”
of a new conflagration.