On Friday January 27th, the Sénégalese Constitutional Council ruled that Abdoulaye Wade was legally eligible to run for his third term as the President of Sénégal, setting off wide spread riots in urban areas across the country, including the capital of Dakar. While protests have occurred frequently since Wade announced his intention to run, violence has been rare. A police officer's death during the outburst could signify the beginning of a very tense period for the West African democracy as it moves closer to a February 26th election.
A Brief History
Since its independence from France in 1960, Sénégal has been one of the most stable democracies in Africa. The Sénégalese have enjoyed free elections every seven years and completed two peaceful transitions of power. It remains the only country in mainland West Africa to have avoided a coup since the end of the colonial era. Thanks to its political and economic stability, Sénégal has been the recipient of large amounts of aid from the US, including a 2009 Millenium Challenge grant worth approximately $540 million.
For the first 39 years after independence Sénégal had only two presidents, thanks to a constitution that allowed seven year presidential terms and no term limits. In 2001, one year after his defeat of incumbent Abdou Diouf, current President Abdoulaye Wade pushed through a constitutional amendment limiting presidents to two terms. Then, in 2007, Wade reduced the length of presidential terms from seven years to five.
Current Tensions
Despite previously claiming he would not seek reelection for a third term, Wade reversed course in 2009 and declared his intention to run in the February 2012 election. His supporters claim that since the amendment limiting the number of terms was made after his first election, it should not apply retroactively. In other words, they believe that Wade's first term did not count under the new constitution, so he should still have a "second" term available to him.
Then in June of last year the 85-year-old Wade attempted to push through two additional constitutional amendments. The first limited the percentage of votes needed to claim a victory in the first round of the Sénégal's election system to 25% from the usual 50%, which would greatly aid an incumbent's reelection bid.
The second amendment proposed to create the position of a Vice President in the government. Many critics feared that Wade intended to use the position to hand off power to his politically-active son, Karim Wade.
The large protests that resulted forced the Wade government to back down from the proposed amendments, but Wade continued to claim he was eligible to run for a third term as President, despite significant public opposition. It was left up to the Constitutional Council to determine Wade's eligibility, but since most of the council members and the Council President were appointed by Wade, there is some skepticism towards their supposed impartiality.
On the evening of January 27th, the Council released their decision to allow Wade to run while simultaneously disqualifying grammy award-winning musician Youssou N'Dour for a lack of verifiable signatures in his application. N'Dour has said he will challenge the rulings, but Wade seems certain to be on the ballot in February.
This sparked a second set of protests with large numbers of youth marching the streets of Dakar, Kaolack and Thiès led in part by the M23 movement. The movement is an opposition coalition, that has launched an anti-Wade campaign. The campaign includes registering voters and organizing protests while providing support to other candidates. M23, along with several youth organizations, have vowed to continue protesting if Wade runs.
The Upcoming Elections
International interest in the election is high as there is a significant amount of foreign direct investment in Sénégal. The European Union has sent a large contingent of election observers over a month ahead of the actual vote in an attempt to ensure a free and fair election. The US Ambassador and numerous international agencies have made pleas to both Wade and the people of Sénégal to keep violence to a minimum.
Outside of N'Dour, who many Sénégalese saw as an unlikely candidate anyway, none of the challengers have been able to distinguish themselves from the pack. As February 26th approaches, it appears that a unified opposition might have a legitimate shot at unseating Wade, due to a notable level of discontent with his policies, numerous scandals, rising commodity prices and his attempted tap dance around the constitution. However, if the opposition fails to coalesce around a strong candidate, Wade's tremendous name recognition and resources could easily cement his reelection. If Wade is reelected, fears of increasingly violent protests may turn into reality.
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Adam Steinfield - Hello everyone. I grew up in mid-Michigan as an avid Michigan State Spartans sports fan. I've also followed the other four major American ...
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