Invariably, for months, they have repeated that Ousmane Sonko was their only candidate. It doesn’t matter that the Senegalese opponent is drowning in legal proceedings, that he is incarcerated, that his health is deteriorating: for the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (Pastef), no one else that the mayor of Ziguinchor could not represent the party during the presidential election in February 2024. But with the election approaching, we had to face the facts: banned from the electoral lists, Ousmane Sonko will undoubtedly not be able to compete.
Cornered, the main Senegalese opposition finally designated, on the evening of Sunday, November 19, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, as an alternative candidate. Secretary general and founding member of the party, he is one of Ousmane Sonko’s main right-hand men. A proximity coupled with a physical resemblance to his mentor, which earned him the nickname “the clone”. “Sponsoring Diomaye is sponsoring Sonko,” insist Pastef officials less than three weeks before December 11, the deadline for submitting applications.
To participate in the next presidential election, candidates must have the support of at least 0.6% of those registered on the electoral register (i.e. some 44,000 voters) or present the sponsorship of 13 deputies or 120 mayors. Pastef remains mysterious about the strategy he intends to implement to ensure his presence in the election and leaves all doors open. “The choice of Bassirou Diomaye Faye is a party strategy to deceive its adversaries and cover their tracks. Nothing says that there are no plural candidates pending their validation by the Constitutional Council, scheduled for January, analyzes Moussa Diaw, teacher-researcher at Gaston-Berger University in Saint-Louis.
« The clones »
The candidacy of Bassirou Diomaye Faye is a risky bet for Pastef. Although he is still registered on the electoral lists, the party’s general secretary is also incarcerated. Arrested in April after the publication on his Facebook page of a post in which he questioned the independence of certain judges in the defamation case between Ousmane Sonko and the Minister of Tourism, Mame Mbaoye Niang, he first been prosecuted, notably for “contempt of court”. Then his case was increased in September with new charges such as the accusation of “undermining state security” and “criminal association in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.
But, for Pastef, Bassirou Diomaye Faye above all embodies an almost twin continuity with Ousmane Sonko. The two men, graduates of the National School of Administration (ENA), met in the corridors of the General Directorate of Taxes and Domains. They campaigned together in the first public service union created by Mr. Sonko in 2005.
After the founding of Pastef in 2014, Bassirou Diomaye Faye managed the secretariat responsible for the diaspora before chairing the National Movement of Patriotic Executives. “Bassirou is someone who is committed, pragmatic and loyal, who is quick-witted and unifying. He is very well known and highly appreciated by all social strata, by his peers and by the Senegalese intelligentsia,” praises El-Malick Ndiaye, communications manager for Pastef.
The fact remains that “the clone” does not have the flamboyance of the original. An unsuccessful candidate in the local elections of January 2022 in his birth commune of Ndiaganiao, in the Thiès region, he was never elected. In July 2022, he was unable to run in the legislative elections, because the list on which he appeared had been rejected by the Constitutional Council. So many failures which cast doubt on the ability of the new Pastef candidate to win the votes of voters. Especially since he will have to campaign from Cap Manuel prison in Dakar.
Mobilize supporters
Birame Khoudia Lo, who was his deputy at the general secretariat of the party, nevertheless says he is confident: “Bassirou has the ability to listen, he is open and conciliatory. We were among those who said that we needed to be open to listening to other countries, including France, and working with them in the context of development. » Furthermore, “there are three months left before the presidential election, the justice system will not have time to process the case”.
The challenge remains to mobilize supporters around number 2 and bring the political project into existence, while the main leader is prevented from participating in the presidential election. “If Bassirou Diomaye Faye is a little well-known, he is not as popular or charismatic as Ousmane Sonko. It’s a forced choice when most of Pastef’s leaders are threatened in legal cases,” comments Ogo Seck, professor of political science at Gaston-Berger University in Saint-Louis.
But “the candidacy of President Ousmane Sonko is still not ruled out” as long as all legal remedies have not been exhausted, assures the party in a press release. With “other forms of sponsorship by elected officials”, it retains the “capacity to sponsor [the candidacy of Ousmane Sonko] and to sponsor other candidates until the very day of submissions”.
