Macky Sall's decision not to stand for a third term in the February 2024 presidential election is both a relief and a source of pride for Senegal. It anchors the West African country in the club of those where the rule of law guarantees stability.
Some actions make a politician part of the history of their country. Senegalese President Macky Sall's announcement on Monday, July 3, that he would not seek a third term in the presidential election of February 2024 was one of those. The ambiguity he had previously maintained on this issue, arguing that the 2016 constitutional revision had "reset the [term of office] counter to zero," had fed anger on the streets and threatened to plunge Senegal into chaos. Lifting that ambiguity is both a relief and a source of pride for a country often seen as a barometer of democracy in Africa.
In early June, the crackdown on the riots fuelled by the sidelining of his main opponent, Ousmane Sonko, who was sentenced to two years in prison for "corruption of youth," led to the death of 23 people, according to Amnesty International. Sall's obstinacy was hardly understandable, especially given that he himself had been elected in 2012 by beating Abdoulaye Wade, whose constitutional fiddling he had denounced as being designed to stay in power.
On Monday evening, Sall saved his honor and, above all, the reputation of the Senegalese democratic model, a relative exemplarity in West Africa, where military regimes have proliferated. While Senegal has never experienced a coup d'état, two of its closest neighbors (Mali and Guinea) are in the hands of juntas. Since its independence in 1960, the country of Teranga (Wolof for "hospitality") has known only four presidents, and the two political transitions it has experienced, in 2000 and 2012, took place peacefully.
From Léopold Sédar Senghor to Sall - with Abdou Diouf and Abdoulaye Wade in between - the democratic "showcase" has never been ideal. But the freedom of expression that prevails in Senegal and the dynamism of its political life have often forced leaders to listen to the population and respect the rule, or risk being punished.
A presidential election with crucial stakes
Sall's wise decision to hand over the reins in 2024 is also a shrewd political maneuver. For the first time in Senegal's history, the incumbent president will be organizing an election in which he himself is not taking part. By depriving his main opponent of his central argument, Sall has cut him off at the knees. But, with no designated successor, he is also signaling the start of a battle within his own camp for his succession.
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The president may also use his prerogatives to allow not only Sonko, but also two other opponents who have also been convicted - former Dakar mayor Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, the son of ex-president Abdoulaye Wade - to compete in a presidential election with crucial stakes. The next president of this poor country, where 38% of its inhabitants live on less than $1.90 a day, will have to manage the new manna from Senegalese offshore oil and gas.
Sall's salutary gesture sends a double warning, to the military leaders who are extending their hold over West Africa and to the foreign powers who, from Russia to China, are trying to convince Africans that democracy is not for them. It anchors Senegal in the club of countries where the rule of law guarantees stability and commands the respect of the international community. But the widespread tribute being paid to a leader who has done no more than respect his country's constitution is a measure of the worrying general state of democracy in West Africa.
