The battle is fierce and all shots now seem permitted. Since Senegalese President Macky Sall announced on July 3 that he will not run for a controversial third term in February 2024, the political coalition formed around him has been torn apart for his succession. Made of the prince, the choice of the candidate who should wear the colors of Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) is up to him. But today, several ambitious people are trying to impose themselves on him. Behind the scenes, the climate is electric and points to the threat of independent candidates.
Tipped to be the president’s first choice in case of renunciation, the prime minister is the subject of an internal smear campaign that could be summed up by a pithy: “Everything except Amadou Ba”. His detractors are trying to torpedo a candidacy that he has not declared so far, first filing his lawsuit for illegitimacy. “He has no political basis!” We don’t want him! “, thunders a cacique of the Alliance for the Republic (APR), the main party of the coalition. “Too divisive! Too old to talk to young people! “, judges another, considering that 62 years old, “is too old when the median age of Senegalese is 19 years old”.
In the eyes of his opponents within BBY, Amadou Ba may have been elected deputy in 2022 in Dakar, he would reduce the chances of the coalition to stay in power in 2024. Behind this outcry, some are campaigning in favor of other party figures. Among them, Abdoulaye Daouda Diallo, a close friend of the president, of whom he was the chief of staff. Former Minister of Finance, he is now the head of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council. Or Aly Ngouille Ndiaye, former Minister of the Interior, now in charge of agriculture. These two personalities have strong allies in the coalition, but their political weight is still uncertain.
Macky Sall’s embarrassment
This front against the head of government, the presidency seems not to have anticipated it. Expected for almost a week, the designation of the future candidate is constantly postponed; a sign, according to some of those close to him, of Macky Sall’s embarrassment. “He asked the former President of the National Assembly Moustapha Niasse to audition all the candidates and then report to him. On this basis, he will make his choice, “says one of his collaborators.
Among the most recurring reproaches formulated against Amadou Ba is his lack of seniority within the party. “We were at President Sall’s side when he was going through the desert [after his break with President Abdoulaye Wade (2000-2012)]. From 2007, we accompanied him to create the APR and support his conquest of power. Where was Amadou Ba at that time? His arrival was purely opportunistic,” accuses a close friend of the head of state.
In 2008, Amadou Ba occupied the general direction of taxes and domains, a powerful institution of the Senegalese public administration. In 2013, a year after his election, Macky Sall propelled him to the head of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. A key position to gain influence within the party. To the point of causing concern in the entourage of the president, who then sees in him “a power in power”.
“The Ministry of Economy and Finance had become too powerful in the eyes of Macky Sall. Hence the split of the portfolio into two entities in 2019. However, he broke the codes there by recruiting people like me, who did not go through senior administration. With him, skill trumps everything,” judged his friend and former technical adviser Pape Amadou Sarr. Landed in April 2019, Amadou Ba was then transferred to the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The position is prestigious, but his appointment is experienced as a demotion, according to those close to him.
From his years spent in finance, where he piloted loans for mega infrastructure projects such as the regional express train (TER), the toll motorway or the Diamniadio supercomputer, the enarque nevertheless expanded his network in the world. of affairs and has shaped an image of a rigorous technocrat in Western capitals and among donors. “In Paris, London or Berlin, his candidacy could be reassuring, because he is known to treat his files seriously, under a first technical approach before being political. He is also constructive in his exchanges, far from the balance of power, “said a French economic actor.
“The Man of Consensus”
Until the last few hours, Amadou Ba was therefore in pole position in the order of succession. But now since Tuesday July 11, another tenor, who has disappeared from the political scene since 2021, has suddenly returned from Paris, where he was being treated, to enter the race. Like Amadou Ba, Mahammed Dionne was Prime Minister and played a central role in the establishment of the Emerging Senegal Plan (PSE). But he has a major asset: “He’s a real devotee of Macky Sall. He accompanied and supported him throughout his ascent. We are in a relationship of sincere friendship. Macky Sall recognizes his skills,” says Babacar Ndiaye, a political analyst at the Wathi think tank, who wonders, however, “Is he popular with Senegalese? Hard to say after this long withdrawal. »
In this context of heightened rivalry the question inevitably arises: Was Mahammed Dionne encouraged by Amadou Ba’s rivals? “2024, he’s been thinking about it for years. Now that he’s refreshed, he’s ready. Being far away allowed him to protect himself from quarrels and to appear as the man of consensus. He is more introduced and can count on the support of the executives, “judges an observer, for whom Mr. Dionne would be Macky Sall’s choice of reason: “The president is sensitive to his heritage. Who better than this devotee to ensure the continuity of his work? »
Where Mahammed Dionne appears as “the good soldier of Macky”, Amadou Ba suffers from an image of disloyalty. “Amadou is a reserved man. He razed the walls so as not to be accused of having presidential ambitions. When he is accused of being close to Ousmane Sonko [he was the opponent’s teacher at the National School of Administration and Magistracy], he does not defend himself enough. He never went to the front to defend the president, even during the June riots. This strategy of permanent avoidance backfires,” laments one of his friends.
Macky Sall will have been able to maintain around him for more than eleven years a coalition united by the sharing of power and the positions he confers. Today, the hope of a single candidacy in his camp is dwindling. “He is facing what he feared, which is a succession struggle. This is one of the reasons why he preferred to keep his renunciation secret for a long time. No one knows in what state the coalition will emerge from this fratricidal struggle, ”concludes an elected representative of the majority.
By choosing to decide on his future just seven months before the presidential election, Macky Sall has preserved his political weight until the last moment. He leaves behind him a battlefield where the rival ambitions of those who served him assert themselves all the more brutally as time is running out to gain presidential support and then win over voters.
