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Senegal
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POLITICS
Socialist Party members leave in droves
Senegal’s political scenario experienced a change on 19 March when President Abdou Diouf (Socialist Party) was defeated at the polls), and an on-going mass exodus of Socialist Party (PS) faithful towards the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) started. It should be recalled that the PS had held power for forty years (since independence from France in 1960, 18 of these with Diouf in power). Now fundamental questions such as «which way, Senegal?», or, «what future for Senegal’s democracy?» are being asked.
On 5 July, Mr Abdoulaye Diak, Speaker of the Senate and thus a major figure (number three) in the state’s machinery of government, (he’s also one of the PS‘s senior members), announced he was leaving the PS and joining Mr Abdoulaye Wade’s PDS. Readers will recall that Abdoulaye Wade and his PDS had defeated Abdou Diouf in the presidential elections. This particular exodus was described by some as «surprising», or «scandalous» or «outrageous». Political analysts then started to wonder what was going on? What was the real reason for this dramatic shift to another party? «Crossing the floor of the House» has always been a feature of Senegalese politics (as, indeed, in other African countries) but this was far too much to take in. Diak’s defection to the PDS came as a bombshell, coming as it did, after the defection of 37 other senior PS personages who, during these last three months have, without any qualms, left a party riddled by dissension, in the middle of a crisis and painfully trying to reform itself.
Many people now say that considering the number of PS stalwarts who have left, is a sure sign that the party is in a state of advanced decay and this to the profit of the PDS. They are asking the real reason behind the «political migration» both as regards the politicians in question and their PDS hosts.
Analyzing the situation
With these defections, the parliamentary balance of power is now somewhat different than that existing at the time of the presidential election. Hoping to profit from the new situation, Abdoulaye Wade’s government is looking to advance the date of parliamentary elections to April 2001.
To show that the PDS is doing «something», the Government has started investigating the way in which the country’s finances have/are being run, obviously hoping to discover that the previous government had had its hand in the till. «Anybody caught lining their own pockets, will be punished», is the new watchword. Some victims have already been found.
The PDS wants to ensure it’s got a parliamentary majority, but has a problem because it faces a potential rival in the person of Mr Moustapha Niasse (presently the Prime Minister) and his Alliance of Forces for Progress (AFP). Wade had promised Niasse the premiership because he owed his victory in the presidential election to Niasse’s support. (Niasse supported Wade in the second round of the presidential election). Now Niasse’s power is growing and it could be that a power struggle might be in the offing which might be ferocious and indeed terminal. It has already been alleged that Mr Wade wants to outdo his «ally-opponent» through political manipulations, aimed at facilitating the mass exodus of PS members (in the direction of his own PDS and thus increasing his own parliamentary majority). Political migrations are very much the order of the day at the moment!
The meaning of all this «toing and froing»
Should we attach much importance to what’s presently taking place in the corridors of power? It must be pointed out that there’s nothing new in this form of political manoeuvring. It seems that in the past there’s been several departures the other way — i.e. from the PDS to the PS — very much to the benefit of the PS then in power.
Also, it appears that in the past, PS members felt they were hidebound by a whole series of petty rules and regulations within the party, but with a «breath of fresh air» now at the helm in the person of President Wade, PS members feel they can look for «fresh fields and pastures new». «And you can’t ignore the fact», says a PDS leader, «that forty years of a socialist system of government has had their effect on people, and they are looking for change».
Other reasons are also given for Senegal’s present political life, some, rather curious, others somewhat unconventional. Some former PS members who’ve now left the fold say the new Head of State himself appealed to them to work alongside him. Others say the grassroots PS membership asked them to «help out» the new regime. Then there’s the renegade from the PS ranks who openly explained that his marabout had ordered him to support Mr Wade — which knowing the influence the marabouts have in Senegal, the marabout in question is sure to deny.
In fact, there’s a lot to be learnt from what’s happening. Those politicians who’ve defected from the PS are not really changing their political ideas or philosophies. All they’re after is to keep their posts which they’ve held for nigh on forty years. In «crossing the floor of the house» they may be leaving one political party to join another, but their political ideals remain the same. So, to a certain extent, there’s no real «political migration». There’s a new captain at the helm and its only natural that there are certain adjustments to be made to changing circumstances.
Those members who have crossed «to the other side» into the PDS ranks, say they haven’t done so in order to protect themselves from possible prosecution which the current auditing exercise may expose them to. They declare themselves committed to serving Mr Aboulaye Wade and to taking a positive role in their country’s development. «We’ve not really changed», they say, «but our country must come first» — and who can prove otherwise?
Is Senegal’s democracy immature, childish? What does changing over to another party mean for the Senegalese? If too many people join one party, is there not the danger of ultimately reverting to a one-party system? True, there are questions to be answered but in spite of everything, Senegal has a form of democracy which is much less hesitant than that found in other African countries. Change there has been, but change without violence. The demand for change had become unstoppable and Mr Wade’s victory got an ecstatic victory, particularly from the young. So, in truth, Senegal can lift its head high as a mature democracy where playing a positive role in the life of the nation is a matter of civic pride.
 | Alain Agboton, Senegal, August 2000 — © Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment |
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PeaceLink 2000 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement