The detention and dissolution on Monday of the party of opponent Ousmane Sonko, presidential candidate for 2024, left many Senegalese in shock on Tuesday, who see it as the definitive elimination of the spokesperson for part of the youth. . “I’m disgusted. Look at my (nicked) hands. I went out yesterday (Monday) to demonstrate but there was no one outside. I have no more hope,” says Thierno Mbaye, a young supporter of Ousmane Sonko, disillusioned.
On Monday evening, spontaneous demonstrations broke out after the announcement of the detention for various crimes including the call for the insurrection of Ousmane Sonko, bearer of an “anti-system” program advocating in particular a rebalancing of relations with European countries , including the former colonial power France. They pitted groups of young people against the security forces. The clashes left two dead in the south in Ziguinchor, Ousmane Sonko’s stronghold. Another death was recorded by the local press in clashes in Pikine, in the suburbs of Dakar.
Sonko’s political party, dissolved
In addition to defending their leader, supporters of Ousmane Sonko denounced the dissolution on Monday by the authorities of Pastef, the political party of their leader, a rare event in the history of Senegal. According to local media, it is at least the third formation to experience such a fate, after the African Independence Party (PAI) dissolved in 1961 and the Bloc des masses sénégalais (BMS) of the former historian Cheikh Anta Diop in 1966, under the regime of President Léopold Sédar Senghor.
But the popular uprising called by Ousmane Sonko’s party is currently much smaller than that of early June, which turned into riots after the opponent was sentenced to two years in prison in a affair of manners. These disorders had been the most serious for years in the country, killing 16 officially, around thirty according to the opposition.
With this third procedure, which is added to two other convictions, the politician who came third in the 2019 presidential election risks, according to lawyers, five to 20 years in prison. The detention of Ousmane Sonko “could spell the end of his presidential ambitions. Not only could he lose his electoral eligibility, but also find himself still in prison during the electoral campaign”, writes journalist Momar Dieng in a text published on Twitter, renamed X.
A “compromised” stability in Senegal
“It is impossible for Ousmane Sonko to stand in the presidential election. Pastef does not have the political means to establish a balance of power favorable” to a candidacy of Ousmane Sonko, told AFP l anthropologist and political analyst Abdou Ndukur Kacc Ndao. The latter says he fears “a big hunt” for those responsible for the formation which has several elected members of the National Assembly and in local executives. On Tuesday, life seemed to continue as normal in the Senegalese capital Dakar. But for many Senegalese, the awakening was “difficult” and “bitter” after the brutal fall of their leader.
The “stability (of Senegal) is now compromised, because the people will never accept this ultimate forfeiture”, affirmed by press release the party of Sonko, in reaction to its dissolution. Public statements from Pastef officials were still expected on Tuesday afternoon. “If the Senegalese people, for whom I have always fought, abdicate and decide to leave me in the hands of the Macky Sall regime, I will submit as always to the divine will”, Ousmane Sonko seemed to resign himself in a message on social media on Monday afternoon.
Macky Sall accused of setting up legal cases from scratch
The opponent had however hammered in recent months that no one could prevent him from running for president, promising to fail to install “chaos” in the country. He accused President Macky Sall of fabricating legal cases to exclude him from the 2024 ballot. Macky Sall, elected in 2012 for seven years and re-elected in 2019 for five years, announced on July 3 that he would not would not be a candidate, after having maintained the vagueness for a long time.
The arrest of Ousmane Sonko leaves a big void in his party, which has already been weakened in recent months by hundreds of arrests in its ranks, including senior officials still in prison. Cracks also appeared in his coalition after the conclusions of a political dialogue at the end of May, boycotted by the Pastef. “It’s time for those who supported him to readapt by choosing other personalities who can carry this project”, affirms Thierno Souleymane Diop Niang, researcher in political science.