The sad spectacle of the installation of the Fourteenth Legislature of the National Assembly of Senegal has left people speechless. The chaotic scenes, the irresponsibility of our elected officials, the fights and the presence of the gendarmes only reinforce our logic that such a heterogeneous Parliament, with irresponsible elected officials, would not produce anything good for Senegalese democracy (see our column « The awful affronts made to the Administration »). From the microphones ripped off, the MPs who thought they were wrestlers, the heckling of newly elected MPs, the insolent monologue of a demagogue like Mame Diarra Fam who saw herself in the clothes of a Roman Domina in front of her subjects and the intervention of the Gendarmerie to organize a vote, one can say that the artist Banksy would have a lot of material in Senegal to repaint his famous painting « Devolved Parliament » in 2022.

The artist staged in 2009 a House of Commons filled with chimpanzees, occupying the benches of parliamentarians. This painting, which sold for more than 12 million euros in 2019 at Sotheby’s, echoed one of his works in which he premonitorily warned about the risk of populists and demagogues in politics. A proud-looking monkey was wearing a sign on its neck with the inscription « Laugh now, but one day we will be in charge ». The analogy with what is happening in Senegal could not be stronger. When one imagines that a place occupied by personalities of great substance such as Lamine Guèye, Amadou Ciré Dia or Moustapha Niasse could have one day seen a Barthélémy Dias at its helm. A daddy’s boy pushing fifty, without any tangible achievements, except for being a loudmouth! One can only be disgusted by what Senegalese politics offers us. With such a Parliament, Senegal will soon have, like the American Capitol, its timeline of violent incidents in the Congress and the Senate. This timeline is recommended reading for anyone indignant about the spectacle of the Senegalese Parliament to understand that places of power, if not inhabited by gentlemen, are worse than lion pits.

Those in power are also to blame for this state of affairs. The dumbing down of the political discourse and the promotion of mediocrity at all levels has provided a home for insolence, reckless defiance and irresponsibility as a source of political gain. If the political scene has been able to hatch so many lame ducks thinking they have the legitimacy of Apollo, it is because the Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) machine has continued to drown in compromises, allowing the mistakes of its elected officials, and refusing any introspection and any contact with reality outside the arcanes of power. We should not be surprised when lies, of which all are certain, are much more audible to the population than the government’s words, even though they are based on irrefutable facts. The Senegalese Parliament did not disappoint for the circus offered at its re-entry. Chaos has become a way of social and political ascension. The most agile monkeys will jump from tree to tree to get to the top. Between the Local elections of January 2022 and the Legislative elections of July 2022, one will have been convinced that Senegalese politics is a magic lamp by rubbing it with insolence and irreverence, all dreams are possible!

The chaos offered by the installation of the Fourteenth Legislature leaves a bitter taste when we remember that next September 22 will be the fourth anniversary of the death of Bruno Diatta. The emblematic chief of protocol of Presidents Senghor, Diouf, Wade and Sall will have marked this country and its public life by his rectitude, his humility, his discretion, and his professionalism. In view of what our public administration and our political scene is becoming, we cannot help but pray that the career of such an exceptional man be shared more with the new generations. We cannot be left with braggarts who have no professional pedigree, let alone an ounce of respect and courtesy. The late Ousmane Tanor Dieng who warned about the danger of inexperienced hands at the head of Senegal one day had a quote in his ode to Bruno Diatta that will not cease to ring true. « From you, dear Bruno, the present and future generations will remember, among other things, that the talkative ones are those who know little  » he said. Our chattering and overexcited « monkeys » of the Parliament should read these lines. Senegal does not deserve the chaos of their shouting and the outrageousness of their behavior.

By Serigne Saliou DIAGNE / saliou.diagne@lequotidien.sn