By Alpha Jallow, Dakar, Senegal
By Alpha Jallow, Dakar, Senegal
The French speaking West African state of Senegal braces for a tough political contest with 14 candidates trying to unseat incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade. The octogenarian Wade unseated Socialist President Abdou Diouf in a race that saw the defeat of one party rule in post-independence Senegal. Our correspondent Alpha Jallow is in Dakar from where he sends us this report.
President Wade
Dakar-On Sunday, Senegal will hold Presidential elections, pitting incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade who is standing against a crowded field of opposition candidates including his former Prime Minister and ally Idrissa Seck
This peaceful French speaking country is often described as having one of the best democratic systems in West Africa.
President Wade, who has been tipped by recent opinion polls as the favourite candidate, is facing a boisterous opposition from several former close allies.
Despite high government taxes, Senegal is ranked among the poorest nations in Africa. Most of the infrastructure is appalling including its road Network. Minimum standards of sanitation are inadequate or non-existing in many places. But the presidential campaign has been unfolding peacefully. As customary, it is the time of lofty promises and hope for a new beginning.
Incumbent President Wade began his campaign in the troubled region of Cassamance in the south of Senegal. It was here seven years ago, that President Wade promised to end the two decades old rebellion that still rages especially, as the country braces for another election. Again Wade has promised to end the isolation of the Casamance region by building a railway track linking the capital, Dakar, Tambacounda and the Casamance.Whether he will win the elections to implement his most cherished plans remains one of the biggest questions.
President Wade is running on a platform of Change as he did seven years ago ending four decades of socialist party hegemony in Senegal.
His supporters mainly unemployed youths and middle age ladies, chant “sopi -Wolof for change.
His critics say Wadés age, put at 83, cannot govern Senegal for another five years. But the octogenarian President still looks quite strong and his campaign style bold. At every stop, he promises to build new factories; roads, schools and hospitals.
But his detractors are many, like those supporters of the former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck, who says what Senegalese need today is a generational change.
As campaigning draws to a close, several clashes are reported around the country. Yesterday afternoon, more than seven people were critically injured as supporters of Idrissa Seck, leader of the Party “Rewmi”- Wollof for The Nation, clashed with supporters of a very influential religious leader Serigne Mbethio Thione who is backing President Wade.
Incumbent President Wade is running against fourteen other candidates, four of them Independent candidates.