The political peasants are moving in the country, six months before the January 2022 local elections. An opposition coalition, which includes at least Pastef by Ousmane Sonko, the Senegalese Democratic Party Karim Wade, the Unity and Rally Party (PUR) and Taxawu Dakar is being formed. While discussions are ongoing, no official announcement has been made yet.
as reported from Dakar, Thea Ollivier
A coalition to unite against the presidential movement during the next local elections is the goal of this rapprochement between different opposition parties. At the moment, four political bodies are still forming this coalition, but other movements are expected to join them soon.
After more than two months of discussions today “very advanced”, “they managed to agree on the content”, according to a source within one of these parties. She emphasizes that points still need to be completed, especially about the communication or reference documents.
For Assane Ba, from the Senegalese Democratic Party, PDS, founded by the former president Abdoulaye Wade, the most important thing is to form a new political grouping without divisions, a few months before the departmental and municipal elections.
This opposition coalition could be “very important in increasing the chances of winning local elections” against the presidential movement, believes El Malick Ndiaye, head of communications for Pastef.
Faced with the “steamroller for the majority”, Déthié Faye explains – independently – that he is still being discussed before joining the coalition. “The rule is to go to the polls in coalition, but we must take precautions because it must not crack due to ego conflict,” he predicts. In a press release, Thierno Bocoum, leader of the Agir movement, explains to him that this coalition is a “calculated and political alliance against the opposition” and therefore refuses to integrate it.
But according to political analyst Babacar Justin Ndiaye, the opposition has no choice but to unite to face the “majority steamroller”. This union during the election will therefore serve as a test for the next legislative and presidential election in 2024.
Opposition members have realized that their only salvation is in a coalition.
Moussa Diaw, Professor and Researcher in Political Science at Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis
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