The die has been cast: it is BDF that is engraved on the miniature flag overhanging the Presidency of the Republic. For a week now, the Palace has not been home to the same tenant.

Macky Sall, in accordance with the Constitution, on 2 April 2024, after grudgingly handing over the owner’s keys to his successor who remained on the perron, left, escorted out by a red guard whose rigid goose-stepping seemed to kick him out.

The day before, he took the liberty of a final official ceremony to decorate his deserving compatriots, to leave them with an indelible memory. There is a bit of everything in the batch of recipients: the brave soldier, the frustrated civil servant, the declining sportsman, the little-known artist…

Better late than never? From now on, he’ll have to put his sores behind him.

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The prophet of the Pse will take a final bath in the crowds, once the gates of the Palace have been finally opened, greeting a crowd where the cries of thanks from his groupies mingle with the inconsolable resentful who want to spit out a hateful good riddance with no regrets. He made a stop at his home in Mermoz, where a rabble of die-hard fans crowded round the front of the house hoping to shake his hand one last time.

Images of his departure circulated later, at Léopold Sédar Senghor military airport in Yoff, bidding farewell to a few relatives lined up at the foot of the presidential plane, before flying off to his fate, which for the time being has been pinpointed in Morocco, where a small pied-à-terre awaits him, and of which a few images are circulating.

His miserable shack in Marrakech at least has the advantage of keeping him away from the local financial prosecutors, who might take themselves for the Crei and summon him to explain the origin of such luxury.

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As you know, when ‘social demand’ calls for a scapegoat, the higher the position, the happier the camorra of the indignant… It seems he won’t be idle for long, as Emmanuel Macron, the Pope of Françafrique, has recruited him as Special Envoy of the Paris Pact for the People and the Planet. Macky Sall even began the job by videoconference from Dakar.

 You either have a lucky star or you don’t…

A remake of the 2000 changeover, when on 1 April, after the Pape of « Sopi » was sworn in at the Friendship Stadium in front of a crowd of without-pants, Abdou Samba Toro Diouf handed him the keys to the property and slipped away on the presidential plane bound for Cairo, where he would represent his ousted successor at a summit of heads of state.

It would take Abdou Samba Toro Diouf a little longer, however, to settle in at the Francophonie. President Abdoulaye Wade was reportedly dragging his feet about giving him his blessing…

And unlike Abdou Samba Toro Diouf, for Macky Sall this is just a goodbye, isn’t it? In letters sent to his Apr militants and Benno bokk yaakkaar allies, he made it clear that he remains the President of the Apr, albeit with residence in Marrakech, asking them to remain mobilised in preparation for the reconquest of the Palace.

 I admit, he doesn’t say it like that…

But it’s implied that the Senegalese are likely to sack Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his two wives at the next presidential election, to clamour for his return, the Superman of the Pse, and Marième Faye, the endearing darling kor who brings tears to the eyes of sentimental suburban slum-dwellers…

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There are some imams who already miss the traditional « soukeur’ou kôr », while feminists are crying foul: four women in the wind does not make for parity in a government. The perennial illegitimate recipients of diplomatic passports, the subscribers to political fund distributions, the talibés who won’t tolerate their marabouts being snubbed, the lazy who can’t find work but swear they’re looking for it every morning, the pilgrims who travel at the Republic’s expense, the beneficiaries of public contracts without tender, the CEOs parachuted in for their boot-waxing skills and the absentee Pca have a lot to worry about…

To this cohort of new poor, we can add their eager courtiers and various collateral damage: expensive mistresses, their bastards and their families whose taps are suddenly running dry. The hostile electorate will also swell over the next five years.

This is not the end of privilege: it’s just the faces of the privileged and their pretty butts that are changing. In the run-up to 2024, why not also bank on a clash between the current President and his cumbersome Prime Minister? That might help…

It’s well known that the Prime Ministership is a poisoned chalice for strong heads. Since the pagan practice of spilling pepper in a house has gone out of fashion, the outgoing presidential tandem, during its usual devotions before the Kaaba, should be hoping for insoluble zizanie at the top of the State. It’s already happened, between Léopold Sédar Senghor and Mamadou Dia, Abdoulaye Wade and Idrissa Seck, Macky Sall and Abdoul Mbaye…

In short, there is every reason to remain optimistic for the future: five years is not an eternity…

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Except that the duettists Sall and Faye will not be alone in their manoeuvres: the challenger in the last presidential election, Amadou Ba, is slamming the door of the Apr to call on all forces of goodwill to join him. He has just picked up nearly 35% of the vote, despite Macky Sall’s apparent unwillingness (to put it mildly) to support him. Pessimists are talking outright betrayal.

The Amadou Ba equation is that he positions himself from the outset as the leader of the opposition and frees himself from Macky Sall’s tutelage by calling on the republicans, or what remains of them, to stand in arms for the next conquests. There will undoubtedly be legislative elections soon, since the current parliament does not give either side an indisputable majority. The next battle of Dakar, which will have to confirm the forces at play, is likely to be deadly: Between Barthélemy Dias, who has no intention of giving way to Khalifa Sall, Amadou Ba, who needs a stronghold in which to wait patiently for the signs of fate, and the current regime, which will make it a point of honour to take over the citadel, almost anything goes…

Do you want my opinion? I’ll give it to you anyway: the next five years will be full of sport!

By Ibou FALL