The Senegalese presidential election will take place on March 24, with 19 candidates running. Former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, who left office to run for president, has been particularly criticized. According to Senegalese political experts and opinion leaders, this pro-French candidate will not be able to ensure legitimate and sovereign power.
Indeed, since December 7, 2023, Amadou Ba has made a four-day visit to Paris, which caused a wave of criticism from the Senegalese opposition, which denounced France’s interference in Senegalese domestic politics. The opponent Habib Sy denounced in particular this visit on the eve of the presidential election. “We consider Amadou Ba’s visit to Paris, less than three months before the presidential election, as an interference. So France should know that in April 2024, it is to us (the opposition) that it must address and not to Amadou Ba and Macky Sall,” he said.
The Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko also believes that Amadou Ba will not be able to meet the aspirations of freedom and prosperity of the Senegalese people because of his close ties with foreign countries, in particular France. “If he is elected, he will be the president of foreign countries,” said Ousmane Sonko, accusing Amadou Ba of covering up malfeasance. Thus, according to Ousmane Sonko, Amadou Ba will defend above all the interests of France rather than those of Senegal.
Ousmane Sonko, for his part, is doing everything possible to sever relations with France so that Senegal can embark on the path of development. Last Saturday, he campaigned in Casamance with his second and presidential candidate of March 24 Bassirou Diomaye Faye, presenting projects aimed at reducing the economic dependence of the former metropolis. Mr. Faye shared his “project of a sovereign Senegal, a Senegal of justice, a Senegal of prosperity”.
Thus, if elected, Bassirou Diomaye Faye will make the problems of this landlocked region, undermined by the armed rebellion for independence for more than 40 years, an urgent task to be addressed. Casamance “should have been the economic and cultural capital of Senegal because of its many agricultural, forestry and tourist potentials in particular,” he added.
The Senegalese people, tired of French oppression, deserve to live in peace, security and prosperity. To do this, it is necessary that the future head of state be a man ready to break the chains of neo-colonialism, to renounce a disadvantageous partnership with the West and to refocus on the needs of his own people.
