Senegal election crisis shakes support for Macky Sall’s coalition
DAKAR, (Reuters) - Writer Moustapha Gueye voted for Senegalese President Macky Sall at the last two elections.
But disappointment in Sall's second term and the president's thwarted attempt to postpone the next vote have shaken Gueye's allegiance to the ruling Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) coalition.
Reclining on a sofa at his home in Dakar, Gueye said he was saddened that Sall's presidency had culminated in a bitter electoral tussle with the opposition and in unrest that has dented Senegal's reputation as one of West Africa's more stable nations.
"These are domestic issues that Senegal should have grown out of," he said.
Sall's shock decision to issue a decree delaying the election just weeks before it was due to take place in February revived widespread fears that he was trying to tweak the constitution to stay in power longer.
Sall denies this. A court later overruled his order, but too late to keep to the original electoral schedule.
Mechanic Ousmane Sene said he was tired of secondguessing the ruling party's intentions.
"The reason I won't vote for Benno (BBY) anymore is simply that I trusted them, but not anymore. That trust has been betrayed," he said at his roadside repair shop in a Dakar suburb.
Authorities have still not confirmed a new date for the vote.
As the process grinds on, BBY and Sall will be gauging how the unresolved crisis is swaying other long-time supporters like Gueye and Sene and how it is affecting the chances of their handpicked candidate in the presidential race, Amadou Ba.
Sall cited concerns over potential election disputes as the reason for the delay. But many believe BBY and Sall tried to postpone the vote because they were unsure about their own candidate and wanted time to think.
Sall has publicly stood by Ba. But equally public critics of the candidate include at least two cabinet ministers and senior BBY member Souleymane Jules Diop, who took to the radio in late 2023 to accuse Ba of being bland and uninspiring, local media reported.
"It's very evident that the election delay would not have taken place if Macky Sall believed that Amadou Ba was clearly capable of winning the presidency," Tochi Eni-Kalu, Africa analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said.