The President of Senegal, Macky Sall, will therefore not be a candidate for his own succession in February 2024. He announced this Monday evening, July 3, during a televised address very followed in the country and beyond. “My dear compatriots, my long and well-considered decision is not to be a candidate in the next election of February 25, 2024,” he said, ending a months-long suspense. The reactions were immediate, as this speech had been awaited for several months, even several years. Elected in 2012, then re-elected in 2019, Macky Sall had the Constitution revised in 2016 with the aim of consolidating and modernizing Senegalese democracy. For his detractors, the head of state had thus opened a door to remain in power beyond his two terms.
In any case, by officially announcing that he will not be a candidate next year, Macky Sall took the Senegalese by surprise, including his opponents but also his supporters. This Tuesday, the president makes the front page of almost all the newspapers. “Macky, what greatness!” exclaims Le Soleil, hailing “a landmark decision”. “Macky leaves through the front door”, “Macky in the pantheon of great men”, headlines, among others, the greatest daily newspapers. “By making this strong announcement, the Head of State has just defused a political bomb that could have led the country to an uncertain future”, analyzes The Witness. Indeed, the radical opposition, which has never ceased to flex its muscles to oppose any attempt to “betray” the people by evoking article 27 of the Constitution which prevents it and its declarations saying that he was in his last term, could not endorse a decision other than that taken yesterday, continues the newspaper in a dedicated article. Previously, the presidential movement had come together to make Macky Sall his one and only candidate for his coalition. Between these two positions, the president finally decided. »
As a reminder, several senior officials of the presidential movement had expressed the wish to see Macky Sall run for the supreme office again. Thus, more than 500 mayors had signed a memorandum inviting the current head of state to present himself.
For Le Quotidien, “despite the pressure, he [Macky Sall, editor’s note] did not give in”, notes the newspaper, which also believes that “his renunciation of a third candidacy makes it possible to completely lock this question of a third mandate” . The newspaper also highlights the will of the current head of state to weigh in the next election by supporting with all his weight the future candidate of Benno Bokk Yakaar, the ruling coalition. “My fight and my greatest pride are really to lead you to victory and to pursue our economic policy for the benefit of our populations. The challenge of the moment is first of all to be united. United, there is no political force that can stand against BBY. »
The political analysis of this announcement can also be read in the sub-regional press, in Guinea for example. Ledjely notes that “Macky Sall pulls the rug out from under Sonko’s feet”. According to the newspaper, “it is true that Ousmane Sonko had so far rather intelligently surfed on the rejection of the outgoing president’s third term. Now that this eventuality is no longer part of the equation, the opponent will have to prove himself otherwise.”
The vagueness maintained by President Sall on his intentions in relation to this 2024 election and the two-year prison sentence of one of his main opponents, Ousmane Sonko, had contributed to making the situation explosive.
The conviction of the opponent in a sex case, which makes him ineligible as it stands, caused serious unrest in early June, killing 16 according to the authorities, 24 according to Amnesty International and 30 according to the opposition. The opponent called for mobilization on Sunday evening, whatever the outcome of the speech, to lead “the definitive fight”.
The next election and its future candidates are of great interest to the Senegalese and West African national press. Because the Senegalese president’s announcement raises many questions about the future of the presidential camp, and the Benno Bokk Yaakar coalition seems to have to find a candidate in less than eight months. “And we can say that the games are open, comments for its part The country, in Burkina Faso. Especially since until his speech on July 3, the Senegalese head of state was not known to have an appointed dolphin. However, there is no doubt that the withdrawal of Macky Sall from the race for his own succession will not fail to sharpen ambitions within the Benno Bokk Yakkar coalition in power in Dakar. »
In the meantime, one thing is certain, it is Macky Sall who will have to organize the next presidential election as outgoing president, a first in the country’s history. “Macky liberates the people, analyzes WalfQuotidien. As we did not expect and despite pressures of all kinds, both internal and external, the President of the Republic chose to row in the direction of history. Also, history, not the small one, will remember that he was the first president of the Republic of independent Senegal to organize elections in which he will not take part. She will remember that, for the first time in Senegal, a president exhausts his two mandates then leaves, neither defeated in an election nor forced to resign. »
Among Senegalese political actors, the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) of former President Abdoulaye Wade quickly expressed itself in a press release: “We congratulate the President for his courageous decision, which should enable the Senegalese people to strengthen their unity and to continue to progress on the road to democracy. We are convinced that, following on from the national dialogue he initiated, this decision will contribute to preserving the serenity and peace that our country so badly needs and to guaranteeing fair and transparent elections. »
For Alioune Tine, a civil society figure and ardent opponent of a third term, it is “a deliverance”. Macky Sall “walks out the front door with a big speech”. Abdoul Mbaye, former Prime Minister, shares “great emotion” and a speech that allows him “to find a large part of the Macky Sall” of April 2012.
This is the disappointment on the side of the presidential movement. “We, members of the presidential movement, had wanted him to have a second five-year term, because the Constitution allows it. It was our political choice. Unfortunately, he did not hear this choice. The President of the Republic has decided on his own that he will not run again. We respect and welcome this decision, and pay tribute to it,” said Mamadou Oury Diallo, mayor of Vélingara (east) and member of the ruling coalition.
As for the naysayers, many nuanced these reactions of pride. “I congratulate the Senegalese youth, the diaspora and all Senegalese democrats. Because, if President Macky has agreed to throw in the towel […], it is because there have been Senegalese who have risen up against it”, reacted Aminata Touré, ex-Prime Minister who has joined the opposition.
Opponent Khalifa Sall hailed “a great decision”, thought of all the deaths in protests since 2021, around fifty, “sacrifices that have not been in vain”, and pleaded for “an inclusive election”.
Mr. Sonko’s spokesperson simply tweeted “Focus 2024” with the portrait of its leader. Opponent Ousmane Sonko, who enjoys great popularity among young people, has continued to cry out that the authorities are conspiring – which refutes him – to eliminate him politically. He has been blocked by the security forces at his home in Dakar, “sequestered”, according to him, since May 28.
The Head of State’s speech caused a reaction well beyond Senegalese borders, scrutinized first throughout West Africa. “President Macky Sall has just shown great political intelligence. Thus, Senegal remains one of the torchbearers whose flame lights up our continent,” tweeted Mahamadou Issoufou, who passed the baton to his former right-hand man Mohamed Bazoum after two terms.
I welcome the announcement made tonight by President @Macky_Sall of Senegal. I express the hope that this carefully considered decision will definitively calm the political climate in this brotherly country.
The latter “formulates the wish that this carefully considered decision will definitively calm the political climate in this brotherly country”, wrote Mohamed Bazoum.
Moussa Faki, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, hails “a wise and salutary decision”. “I express my admiration for the great statesman that he is for having privileged the best interests of Senegal and thus preserving the Senegalese democratic model which is the pride of Africa,” he said. .
Guinea-Bissau’s head of state Umaro Sissoco Embalo, current president of the Organization of West African States, “proudly salutes his courageous decision as a great statesman”, he said on his networks. social.
I just had a long phone conversation with my big brother Pdt @Macky_Sall. I salute with pride his courageous decision as a great statesman. We can succeed @Macky_Sall but it is difficult to replace him. I wish the Senegalese people to continue on… pic.twitter.com/fgH6dyQv3y
Finally, the international community has not remained silent, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, estimated on Twitter that this decision “constitutes a very important example for his country and for the rest of the world”.
Paris also welcomed his decision, judging that “Senegal once again demonstrates the solidity of its long democratic tradition”, according to a press release from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Same story from Washington. “President Sall’s clear announcement sets an example for the region, unlike those who seek to erode respect for democratic principles, including term limits,” the US Foreign Minister said in a statement. Anthony Blinken. “We believe that free and fair elections and power transitions lead to stronger institutions and more stable and prosperous countries,” he added. He said the United States is “proud to support Senegal’s electoral institutions,” and promised to “continue to work with Senegal to support the Senegalese people’s tenacious commitment to democracy.” Senegal is considered a key partner of the United States, the latter having recently shown its willingness to strengthen its ties with African countries.