It did not take long after Pape Diop’s decision was made public for the fury of social networks to be unleashed on the leader of the Coalition Bokk gis gis liggey. Those who believe that he joined the wrong camp accuse him of treason, treason against the People. Others, no doubt wanting to be provocative, recalled the criticisms of Ousmane Sonko during the campaign for the Legislative Assembly, when he denounced all the candidates who were not part of the Yaw and Wallu coalitions, as being financed by Macky Sall. These people are now saying that Sonko was right…

Treason or not, this is a hard blow for the inter-coalition, a blow that puts an end to a big suspense on the dreams and illusions of the parliamentary opposition. Many, including Pastef activists, were keen to deny on social networks the information delivered in Le Quotidien No. 5836 of Monday and Tuesday, August 8 and 9, 2022, on the proposal made by Yewwi askan wi to Pape Diop to join the inter-coalition. However, the information had been verified with the proper sources. If the « deal » had not worked, it is because at that time, Pape Diop had already chosen his camp and had made it known to some insiders.

Whatever the opinions of the various parties may be, many actors already knew that, apart from the popular clamor, the inter-coalition has little to offer to a deputy who would join its camp, unlike the government. And Pape Diop is quite right when he says in his statement that he has exchanged with the members of his party and his coalition, who have approved. It would be hard for those who know Mouhamed Massaly or Aliou Sow, to imagine them ganging up on the President’s power at this moment in political life. For many political actors, the grass of the presidential coalition is still very green.

We have not yet experienced in Senegal a situation in which the president is stripped of most of his power by the opposition to become a mere figurehead. Under these circumstances, the Senegalese political class being what it is, the opposition should not focus on Pape Diop’s « poaching » but instead worry about who should be next on the list. It is known that the lists of the parliamentary election were hastily made. As for Yaw, very little thought was put into preparing their list of alternates, which seemed made for the sole purpose of completing a formality. As such, Ousmane Sonko had so little confidence in his candidates that he never left them to campaign on their own. The leader of Pastef, at the head of the « Conference of leaders of Yewwi askan wi, » made this campaign a referendum for or against Macky Sall’s third term. They were helped in their goal by the involuntary and clumsy complicity of Benno Bokk Yakar, which got engulfed in a communication mainly focused on Macky’s infrastructure projects as if the former was to be re-elected!

Today, the anonymous people of Yaw who will sit in the Hemicycle have various visions. The defections of mayors within their ranks do not reassure about the loyalty of all the Pastef activists. There is no guarantee that members of parliament, with fewer resources than mayors, will be more virtuous. Moreover, among these elected officials, there are people whose leaders have declared having joined Macky Sall. Will they resist?

Yaw leaders hope to keep their activists and elected officials by telling them they will come to power in 2024 after sweeping Benno. As of today, that hypothetical victory is not guaranteed. Yaw has deprived itself of the possibility of placing a political clientele within the HCCT by vilifying this institution and leaving the field open to Benno. Did Khalifa Sall, Barthélemy Dias, and Ousmane Sonko measure the degree of frustration that they created with some of their sympathisers, and above all, do they have themselves the means to face it?