Abandoned by his party comrades, Amadou Ba has finally won their support. The National Executive Secretariat (Sen) of the Alliance for the Republic (Apr) has made a U-turn. It has urged its leaders and activists to wet their shirts for the former Prime Minister.

The National Executive Secretariat (Sen) of the Alliance for the Republic (Apr) is now supporting Amadou Ba. And this, after having withdrawn from the campaign of its official candidate, to the extent that the whole press had a field day. In a press release issued yesterday, The SEN of the Apr urged « leaders, activists and supporters to resume political and electoral work, in a united and supportive movement around the candidate of the Benno bokk yaakaar Coalition and the large presidential majority, Amadou Ba, for a resounding victory on the evening of 24 March 2024 ». A way of comforting announced reservations on the part of some. The press release indicates that the Sen has made a U-turn.

Indeed, since the announcement of the setting up of a parliamentary commission of enquiry to shed light on alleged corruption at the Constitutional Council involving their candidate, influential members of the Apr party launched an increasingly vocal campaign against Amadou Ba. The former Prime Minister, dropped by his party’s bigwigs, must have felt very lonely in his campaign tours. The day before yesterday, he even interrupted his campaign to return to Dakar to deal with what he called an « emergency ». It would seem that he sought to be sure of whether or not he would support Macky Sall. This now seems to be a foregone conclusion, at least if the press release from the Sen of the Apr is anything to go by.

This lack of support is rooted in the fact that the party leader had not given clear directives. A fact that the Sen explains in these terms: « The Sen salutes the loyalty of the men and women, leaders and activists of the Alliance for the Republic who, in keeping with their commitment, have always remained attentive to their leader, President Macky Sall, to better convey the orientations and positions of the party« . With this in mind, Sen recalls that the choice of Amadou Ba was not unanimous within the party. « This choice, accepted by the majority of Alliance for the Republic leaders, was nonetheless contested by a large section of the party leadership and many party activists. »

Going forward, it seems to be time for unity. Macky Sall has ordered his lieutenants to throw their weight behind his candidate. Communication materials, which were blocked in Diamniadio, even began to be sent to the Apr headquarters on Tuesday evening. Macky Sall has had to align himself with the positions of the coalition parties, as well as the advice of certain religious authorities. It remains to be seen whether the senior members of the Apr will accompany Amadou Ba on his tours, as they did when he was still an important member of the government. Or whether his rallies will be even less crowded than those of some candidates who do not have a major political apparatus behind them.

By Malick GAYE / mgaye@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH