Marine Le Pen’s trip to Senegal continues to make waves in the country. The meeting between the president of the National Rally (RN) group in the French National Assembly with Macky Sall, the President of the Senegalese Republic on January 18, kept secret until the last moment, had provoked strong reactions of dissatisfaction from Senegalese activists and politicians.
Almost two months later, this interview is again at the heart of a controversy. In an open letter published in the Senegalese media last weekend, former Prime Minister Cheikh Hadjibou Soumaré launched a new wave in the pond. In interrogative form, the former Prime Minister challenges the President of the Republic on a supposed donation of 12 million euros given to a ” French politician without, however, presenting any evidence. He does not name her, but it is Marine Le Pen that he is referring to. One of his relatives describes a man ” besides “ by the visit of the French politician to Senegal.
placing himself ” as a citizen and asking for clarification ” for the people “the president of the political movement Démocratie et République, also raised the question of a possible postponement of the presidential election, the date of which is set for February 24, 2024.
An “attempt to muzzle”
The entourage of Marine Le Pen denounces accusations ” quite wacky “. These are “false, malicious and baseless insinuations” testifying “of an evil desire to discredit the person of the president “, for his part reacted on March 6 the spokesman of the government Abdou Karim Fofana. The government then declared that it reserved “the right to take any action he deems appropriate “.
This sequel arrived seventy-two hours later. Summoned Thursday, March 9 for a hearing before the general security of the central police station in Dakar after the public prosecutor took over the case, he was charged with spreading false news and defamation.
“Opposing a judicial response to political questions is a mistake. But it has become a common modus operandi. Justice is regularly exploited by power to settle accounts, we have seen it with opponents like Ousmane Sonko or previously Karim Wade, Khalifa Sall “, underlines the political scientist Moussa Diaw.
A discreet and respected technocrat
With his open letter, Cheikh Hadjibou Soumaré signs a comeback on the political scene that is as surprising as it is shattering. The 71-year-old is widely described as ” discreet “rarely speaking in the press and “refusing the invectives”. A native of Thiès, like his childhood friend Idrissa Seck, the president of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council who remains an ally of Macky Sall, Cheikh Hadjibou Soumaré is the archetype of a senior Senegalese official. He has spent his entire career in public administration, climbing all levels.
Inspector of the Public Treasury, he became Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy and Finance in charge of the budget a year after Abdoulaye Wade came to power in 2000, before being appointed Prime Minister (2007-2009). Two years later, he took over as head of the commission for the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), a post he held for six years, which allowed him to build up a close network with heads of State, former ministers and senior civil servants, says a former collaborator.
A priori more technocrat than politician, Cheikh Hadjibou Soumaré created his political movement, Democracy and Republic, in 2018. In 2019, he announced that he wanted to be a candidate, without however managing to obtain enough sponsorship. ” He ran for president in 2019 without any base and only had his past as a former prime minister and ex-president of the UEMOA commission. Politically, he does not weigh much “says Moussa Diaw.
For four years, Cheikh Hadjibou Soumaré had withdrawn from Senegalese political life. His recent exit therefore fuels the theories of the presidential party, which sees in it the opportunity to ” a political resurrection for the former Prime Minister, who no longer hides his desire to be a candidate in 2024. Ambitions that could be reduced to nothing in the event of a conviction.