After 100 days in power, the Diomaye-Sonko regime will still have to contend with an opposition embodied by Bougane and Thierno Bocoum, who occupy a field of ruins. The other political forces, disillusioned by the results of 24 March, are having trouble waking up from this trauma to resume their march to the top.

Amadou Ba did not win the presidential election, but it was the Alliance for the Republic (Apr) that lost power. Since the end of President Sall’s term of office, the Apr has been mired in silence, often broken by a few press releases. There was a thank-you tour by the Aperists in Kolda and Kaffrine, at the instigation of the former head of state, who spoke to militants by telephone. Stuck between Marrakech, Paris and New York, 4P’s Special Envoy showed, through this gesture, that he wants to continue to control his party. And to keep an influence on his men and influence the country’s political scene indirectly?  Lawyer Abdoulaye Wade continued to get his hands dirty by heading a list for the legislative elections that followed his defeat in 2012. This plan was designed to clear out the ranks of the Pds in order to open a boulevard for Karim Wade.

100 days at the head of the country: Diomaye takes the exam

Macky Sall has also not ‘orbited’ any of his party’s leaders in order to preserve his presidential legacy. But this congenital defect is catching up with his party, which is in danger of falling into political disarray.  Chairman of the Benno parliamentary group and deputy spokesman for the Apr, Abdou Mbow is working hard to fill the empty slots. He organised the institutional response to the Dpg crisis and the political reaction to President Diomaye’s revelations about his predecessor’s management of political funds.

Field of ruins

Adji Mergane Kanouté and Seydou Guèye, respectively deputy vice-president of the Benno parliamentary group and Apr spokesperson, add further weight to his arguments. No doubt this is a caricature of the reality of the moment, but it shows that the battalion is not large enough to provide an alternative to the Diomaye-Sonko tandem. Amadou Mame Diop and Abdoulaye Daouda Diallo, included in the emissaries sent to Kaffrine and Kolda by Macky, are bound by their institutional functions. They are politically anaesthetised, especially because of the uncertainty surrounding the future of these institutions. What about Bby’s allies? From the Afp to the Ps, the various leaders are looking for a way to resurrect themselves after 12 years in the shadow of Macky, who left without organising an explanation and thank-you session, unlike Lawyer Wade in 2012…

Diomaye’s interview: The opposition charging the President

This vulnerability is a blessing in disguise for those in power, who find themselves up against an opposition shattered by the last presidential election. Of course, the results of 24 February have left many political leaders in a coma, with a new generation of politicians at the top of the political game: Idy and Khalifa are speechless. As for the other presidential candidates, Mamadou Lamine Diallo and Déthié Fall, who have also remained mute as carp, it is not easy to categorise them. Amadou Ba, who is not Macky’s designated heir, has not yet fully assumed his ‘new responsibility’. What’s left? A field of ruins happily occupied by Bougane Guèye Dany and Thierno Bocoum, and slightly Thierno Alassane Sall. At a time of indecision and uncertainty, they seek to embody radical opposition to the current regime. For the first two, the method used has been tried and tested by Pastef: gatsa-gasta.

By Bocar SAKHO / bsakho@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH