(Photo by Bess Sadler via Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 2.0 DEED)
Content Warning: This article contains mentions of sexual assault and misconduct.
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On February 3, 2024, Senegalese President Macky Sall’s announcement to postpone the presidential elections to December shook the country. Originally planned to happen on February 25, Sall justified the delay due to unresolved issues concerning the list of candidates. On February 15, the Constitutional Council ruled that the president’s decision was unconstitutional, urging it to hold the elections as soon as possible. In the meantime, protests sparked in the capital city Dakar, which security forces violently squashed. On March 6, the government eventually announced that the elections would happen on March 25.
This political crisis arrives in the context of growing discontent towards the government and the progressive restriction of civil rights. This election postponement is unprecedented in the 64 years since Senegal’s independence — a country also considered one of Africa’s most successful democracies.
Once the elections finally happened on March 25, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the opposition leader, won the presidency with over 50% of the vote. The opposition’s victory ended Sall’s repressive twelve-year mandate and two months of deadly tensions in Senegal. But what did it take to get here?
2012 – 2019: President Macky Sall Charging the Opposition
The election postponement crisis unfolded amidst growing discontent among the Senegalese surrounding two of Sall’s mandates. Sall won the 2012 election with an ambitious platform focusing on economic development, the fight against corruption, and strengthening the judiciary. In 2016, he began a massive revision of the Constitution regarding the presidential terms or how long the president could stay in office. There is now a limit of two overall presidential terms, shortening the length of each term to five years instead of seven.
Despite these reforms, criticism emerged of Sall’s use of arrests and detention to get rid of opposition leaders. In 2013, Karim Wade, a candidate for the Senegalese Democratic Party, was put in jail, waiting for his condemnation for embezzlement in 2015. In 2016, the United Nations declared that “the detention of Mr. Karim Wade [was] arbitrary.” That same year, Wade received a presidential pardon and decided to leave the country. This decision could represent an attempt from Sall to gain popularity among the Senegalese Muslim community, to which Wade is close. Similarly, Khalifa Sall, the mayor of Dakar and a possible presidential candidate for the Socialist Party was placed in police custody for alleged corruption in 2017, cutting short his hopes to run for election in 2019.
Many considered the judicial proceedings against Khalifa Sall and Wade as political trials to discredit the emergent opposition leaders before the next election. On the other hand, others were shocked to see Wade walk away with a pardon despite Sall’s campaign promise to fight corruption. Either way, Sall’s first order created unease among the population and tensions within the Senegalese political scene.
2019 – 2024: Growing Discontent Against the President
Lacking a credible opposition leader, Sall won a second presidential election in 2019. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the regional political and economic union of 15 western African countries, noted that “voting took place in a calm, disciplined manner [and the] turnout was impressive.”
Yet, discontent continued to grow as unemployment in Senegal remained high, especially among youth. Some promised reforms were still pending, and the arrests of political opponents seemed to fail the argument of Sall’s campaign to fight against corruption. President Sall proposed another constitutional reform to suppress the prime minister’s mandate. Suppressing the prime minister’s position would reinforce the president’s power by removing the second-in-command. This measure came as a surprise because it was unannounced during the campaign. Overall, Sall seemed to deviate from his campaign promises while the critique of selective justice against the opposition came back to the forefront.
Ousmane Sonko, The Spark In The Powder Keg
During the 2019 presidential election, the rising opposition figure to Sall was Ousmane Sonko. His previous job as a tax inspector led him to expose several cases of tax fraud involving Senegalese political and industrial elites. Eventually, he founded his political party called African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF), which gained popularity among the Senegalese youth because of Sonko’s personality and tone.
However, in 2021 Sonko was charged with rape, and he immediately denounced an attempt to remove him from the political scene. On March 3, 2021, his arrest triggered a wave of violent demonstrations, resulting in thirteen deaths. Amnesty International documented the circumstances of some of them, which were “caused by the use of excessive force and firearms by security forces.” The demonstrations eventually stopped after the release of Sonko, but public opinion completely changed due to the violent repression.
In June 2023, Sonko was criticized for “corrupting youth” for allegedly preying on a minor and sentenced to two years in prison. Although the sentence was not enforced, he was not qualified to run for the 2024 presidential election. Violent demonstrations followed his trial, resulting in fifteen deaths. The following month, the police arrested Sonko for “fomenting insurrection” and encouraging violent protests since 2021.
The Senegalese population repeatedly took to the streets to denounce the regime’s crackdown on the opposition. These protests also showcased overall discontent in the face of a high unemployment rate, economic inequalities, and a suspicion of governmental selective justice in the country. There was also the underlying fear that Sall would not live up to his proposed constitutional reform and instead run for a third mandate. Since 2021, PASTEF and civil society have called for more demonstrations, the release of arrested protestors, and the president to officially renounce a third mandate on many occasions. Following the deadly 2023 demonstrations, Sall finally announced he would not run for the 2024 election despite “the constitution [allowing him] to do so.”
The Postponement of the 2024 Elections
The Constitutional Council, the highest Senegalese jurisdiction, published the official list of candidates for the 2024 presidential election on January 20, 2024. The jurisdiction disapproved of Wade’s candidacy due to his dual citizenship despite accepting another bi-national candidate. This matter raised public doubt about the Constitutional Council members’ independence as the Senegalese leader appointed them to monitor electoral procedures. In turn, Wade’s party created a parliamentary commission of inquiry to investigate the alleged corruption of the judges.
Sonko’s candidacy was also missing from the list, as he became ineligible due to his condemnation. In November 2023, Sonko designated Bassirou Diomaye Faye, PASTEF secretary-general, to instead be the party’s candidate for the 2024 election. At the time, Faye was also in prison for defamation against the judges that condemned Sonko.
In this context, Sall delayed the elections to December 2024 instead of the end of February. This unprecedented move would have maintained his power for ten more months, delaying the democratic process. Some explained this move by the fear that the candidate he nominated for his party would lose against the increasing popularity of Sonko. Facing the political turmoil and violence rising in the country, Sall proposed a national dialogue, meaning a consultation with all the parties to find a consensus on the matter, which was boycotted by 17 out of 19 presidential candidates.
On this occasion, he announced a law on amnesty that would erase all crimes related to political protests from 2021. Human rights organizations strongly criticized this law, as it would leave “the crimes committed by security forces” without investigation and fail to give “justice, truth and reparation for the families of more than 60 people killed during demonstrations.” Adopted on March 6, it also enabled the release of Sonko and Faye a few days later. One PASTEF supporter stated, “We [political prisoners] are just used for bartering. They get us out for the stability of the country.” Following the Constitutional Council approval, the elections were finally set for March 24, leaving only nine days for Faye to campaign.
2024: Resilience of the Senegalese Democracy
On March 24, Faye won the presidential election with over 54% of the votes in the first round. Amadou Ba, the candidate from Sall’s party and the main rival of PASTEF, only obtained 35% of the votes, underlining the desire for change. Indeed, the PASTEF platform focuses on the restoration of democracy, the fight against corruption, and the redefinition of economic relations with external partners. It speaks particularly to the Senegalese youth, who represent over 50% of the population and face high levels of unemployment and economic inequalities. Their platform also includes several measures that would reduce the president’s power.
This election cycle concludes twelve years after Sall’s mandate, marked by a crackdown on opposition and civil liberties under the name of anti-corruption and constitutional changes. Democracy in Senegal was on the verge of collapse and more fragile than ever, yet, on March 24, the Senegalese population voted heavily in favour of the opposition party, showing hope for a better life without corruption, human rights restrictions, and unemployment.
As Faye enters his new presidential role on April 2, Senegal can finally experience a peaceful transition after two months of turmoil. While his platform is full of democratic promises, it also contains a few shades of darkness. Can he guarantee safe relations with the West in a tense regional context of coups d’états and anti-West resentment? Will Faye continue Sonko’s agenda of hardening the criminalization of homosexuality once in power? Only time will tell if the new Senegalese president will live up to the democratic mission he won the election for.
Edited by Chelsea Bean
