Senegal: Expectation After the Presidential Election

The March 24th vote took place peacefully after weeks of tensions and incidents following the decision, announced on February 3 by outgoing President Macky Sall, to postpone the elections indefinitely. It is a measure canceled shortly after by the country's Constitutional Court.

A few days before the election, the bishops of Senegal had written for the Catholic faithful a list of the “Ten Commandments for the Voter” to guide them in their choice.

“You will seek to know each of the candidates to the best of your ability by verifying whether they are honest, fair, competent, and capable of governing the nation for the good of all. You will seek to know the solutions that each candidate intends to bring to resolve the problems of the Senegalese; you will not sell your vote for a bag of rice or sugar or for money.”

“You shall not choose candidates who call for violence or threaten others. You shall not elect corruptible, corrupt, or corrupting candidates. You will choose the candidate who most respects moral values. You will choose the candidate who loves his country the most and who is determined to serve and not to be served.” This is the non-exhaustive list of advice given by the Senegalese episcopate to their flock.

The first round election of Diomaye Faye, a young tax inspector who admits to having been a “substitute candidate” resounded like a thunderclap in the country of Téranga [meaning hospitality and generosity]. There are great uncertainties surrounding his personality and his positions.

Bassirou Diomaye Faye says he wants to fight corruption, defend the sovereignty of his country by renegotiating oil contracts, and is part of an ideology whose weight is growing in West Africa: “neo-Pan-Africanism,” which is a “logical anti-system” mixture that promotes decolonization with obvious anti-French overtones.

Caution is also required regarding the religious positions of the new strongman of Senegal. A Muslim described as very pious and “attached to the land,” Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who went to vote on March 24 in the company of his two wives, is accused by some of his opponents of being a Salafist.

During the presidential campaign, MP Cheikh Seck attacked the candidate: “Diomaye is the summit of Salafism, he is an all-out Salafist,” he told his opponent. “Bassirou never went to Touba, even less to Tivaoune [two religious centers of traditional Senegalese Sufism, Ed.] nor to any other religious center. This man does not shake hands with traditional religious people, because he does not respect them. The Senegalese cannot vote for such a person,” added the parliamentarian.

Responding to his detractors after his election, the new president declared to Le Monde that he “was not going to change worship or transform practices,” reaffirming the secular character of Senegal. The Senegalese episcopate, which has remained discreet since March 24, is awaiting the first steps of the new head of state in order to judge him based on evidence.

Senegal, which is more than 94% Muslim – mostly Sufis – is one of the most Islamized countries in black Africa. This high proportion makes it a Muslim country, even if the State Constitution does not make Islam the religion of the Senegalese Republic. The Christian minority represents a little more than 5% of the population in a country where the memory of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, first Archbishop of Dakar appointed by Pius XII in 1955, still remains alive.