Macky Sall in Senegal is turning his back on democracy

A country that, unlike many neighboring countries, has never experienced a military coup and is widely considered a beacon of democracy in the region, is now going through the biggest political crisis of modern times. This is after the Senegalese parliament decided to postpone this year’s elections until next December, despite the end of President Macky Sall’s term on April 2. Police prevented a number of opposition politicians as they attempted to enter Parliament to vote against the proposal.

Sall, 62, was president He has been in the West African country since 2012 and has not expressed any ambitions to continue ruling. But he wanted to set the stage for his intended successor, Prime Minister Amadou Ba. The division within the ruling party reduced Bass's chances of taking over, and this is why, according to the opposition, this is the case. Sal delayed the operation. In recent years, a number of opposition politicians have been arrested and prevented from running for elections, and the demonstrations that took place in the capital, Dakar, last week were not the first. But the situation is worse.

Senegal hardlyIt has a population of 20 million, but thanks to its democratic stability it has played a leading role in a region currently experiencing major political unrest. In the regional cooperation bloc ECOWAS, four countries have witnessed military coups in recent years, and three of them – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – have jointly decided to leave ECOWAS entirely, while Guinea remains temporarily excluded from the group.

Now that democracy is faltering in historically stable Senegal, the question is who will be the defender of democracy in the region when many regimes move in an authoritarian direction. Demographically and economically, Nigeria is a giant that is slowly consolidating its democracy, but the country has internal problems of its own and needed the support of a number of smaller countries in order to put pressure on the junta. Now Nigeria stands increasingly alone.

The gap between English speakers French-speaking countries in West Africa are also growing. All the regimes that now turn their backs on democracy rule in countries that were formerly French colonies. The juntas mobilized unemployed urban youth in demonstrations against the former colonial power, portraying themselves as leaders of the second wave of liberation that broke with French hegemony.

In this way, they were able to neutralize France and President Emmanuel Macron, who had difficulty defending democracy without losing influence and sympathy.

This is not the case in Senegal, The crisis is entirely due to internal factors. But at the very moment that President Emmanuel Macron enters the discussion, France risks becoming a scapegoat.

United States of America: Government Now he presses on Sal It demands guaranteeing freedom of assembly, demonstration, and the press, and restoring Internet service that was closed for periods. The Biden administration says it is ready to engage in dialogue with all Senegalese and regional parties in the coming days.