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SURVEY - SENEGAL: All change for a fresh style of government: INTERVIEW:
PRESIDENT ABDOULAYE WADE by Nim Caswell: The new president, elected
president in March, discusses his plans for fostering changes in the
economy, the constitution and, most importantly, in public attitudes
Financial Times, Nov 13, 2000

Q: You've been in office for seven months, having campaigned for 26 years on
the theme of change; so what changes have you made, and are you happy with
progress so far? A: Iam very happy with these first seven months at the
helm.
The most important change to have taken place is in people's minds. They're
ready to make an effort, not because the president says so or because
they're paid to do it, but because they know they must. Won't they simply
fall back into the old habits? Not at all. We are building a way out of the
ghetto.
There's been a complete change in the style of relations between the
individual and the state. The president no longer travels with a long
cortege. There's a completely new style of presidency.
At an institutional level, there are big changes under way, too. A new
constitution will be put to a referendum in January. The new National
Assembly will be elected before April 1, when the old Assembly's mandate
expires. What can you say about the new constitution? I don't know a country
in the world that has taken such care over the drafting of a constitution. A
commission of legal and constitutional specialists and judges drew up a
first draft, amended by the prime minister and the full cabinet. Then, all
the registered political parties got a chance to comment. The process was
exceptionally democratic. And the content. ...? At the moment, we have a
presidential regime; the prime minister does not feature. So I'm going to
institutionalise the role of prime minister, with clearly defined areas of
responsibility. The president in future won't be able to dissolve the
assembly on the first vote of no confidence - only if it happens twice.
The Senate will be abolished. It's a shame, because I was the first to
propose that Senegal should have an upper house in 1974. But in practice it
is useless. It simply goes over the same ground as the National Assembly,
and is packed with Socialist Party candidates who failed to get themselves
elected as MPs. The Economic and Social Council is going, too. What other
changes are envisaged? We're going to make the judiciary more independent.
That's the main thing. But we also envisage a clause that will bring forward
elections at every level, including not only the National Assembly but
regional, town and rural councils. With effect from the next elections, we
will have five years of peace. Five years to work. Does that mean you
anticipate your own party having a majority in the Assembly by then? Whether
of my own party, or if necessary a coalition. Would it be fair to suggest
you find yourself closer, ideologically, to some wings of the Socialist
Party than to your present coalition partners? It would be difficult to say
that. Politics in Senegal is complicated, full of nuances. Take the parties
that describe themselves as being of the left. It's true that ideologically
we're far apart. But in practice, we have always fought together against the
Socialists. I've been in prison with all of their leaders - several times!
Abdoulaye Bathily, Amath Dansoko, Landing Savane. But opposition and
government aren't the same thing...? True, but it is something that unites
us... a certain conception of the state. Also, certain of the old parties
have detached themselves from their Marxist origins. And the Socialist Party
itself, being descended from the single ruling party instituted by Leopold
Senghor (the country's first post-independence president) embraces a huge
range of opinion. There's been a realignment of political thought in
Senegal. Turning to the situation in Casamance, do you expect to meet Abbe
Diamacoune Senghor, leader of the separatist MFDC, soon? I have been in
contact with him and the MFDC since I've been here. But you mustn't mix
contact and discussion with negotiation. Independence for Casamance is not
negotiable.
We're in the process of setting up a system of reconciliation. As a first
step, we have arranged help for those displaced by the troubles. Now we're
moving into the second phase, under which the Gambian government will help
us to repatriate all the Casamancais living in their territory. A large part
of the solution lies in relations with neighbouring countries... The
president of Guinea-Bissau has said he would never tolerate attacks on
Senegal from his territory. Better still, he has agreed that the United
Nations should send a force. The president of Gambia has decided to expel
the independentistes from his territory. They've even started. Now we're
going to get down to discussions. I think that in a very short time we will
be able to make progress. Then there's Mauritania and the project known as
the vallees fossiles... We've repudiated the name vallees fossiles. But as
far as the Senegal river valley is concerned, we are bringing our policies
up to date, taking into account the entirety of Senegal's water resources.
During the wet season the surplus water floods villages and even threatens
to sweep away St Louis. So we have another project - nothing to do with the
vallees fossiles -so that in case of flood the water is channelled inside
Senegal.
I told the president of Mauritania he was welcome to divert that water into
Mauritania. He was delighted! So we have no problem with Mauritania. So will
the development of the river valley continue as planned? None of the three
members of the Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du fleuve Senegal, -
Senegal, Mauritania and Mali - has come anywhere near realising the
irrigated area allowed under the treaty. We've only used 16 per cent of our
allocation. All we want to do is to fulfil the potential of the area.
Agriculture is at the heart of my thinking. We can grow lots of things here
the European market needs. Gherkins, for instance. And there's a market for
fruits like strawberries and melons, endive, green beans... So we're talking
about horticulture with a high value ... Exactly. Once we've mastered the
production side, we need to look at exports. The airport at St Louis will be
expanded for freight aircraft to serve these markets. We've had offers from
Italy, Morocco and Spain to help us finance storage facilities. I also want
to improve transport linking St Louis to its surrounding district. You say
'we', but won't most fall to the private sector? Of course. We will provide
the infrastructure, but everything else is for private companies. We have
Senegalese who are asking for hectares and hectares of land for market
gardening. I imagine development of large industries. We envisage a large
factory to produce flour from maize, manioc, potatoes and wheat, all
destined for export. By processing our produce, we add value.
Political change in Senegal is going to translate into economic change. I am
an economic liberal and I believe in the free market. That's why we're
planning to call on the market for structural investment in areas such as
roads, the new toll motorways, the new airport, a new town near Dakar, and
an African business centre.
For the first time, we're going to do without the World Bank, and build
viable projects using entirely private capital. That's the challenge I've
set. Senegal has been under the tutelage of the World Bank and the IMF for
more than 20 years... I'm not saying we can do without them altogether, but
I want to make a start and I think we'll be among the first to do so. That
means using the projects we've talked about, and linking them to the real
dynamism of the sectors that offer the best potential for growth via the
infrastructural developments I've outlined.
I've got another project to develop the ports, in Dakar, Ziguinchor,
Kaolack, Fatick and St Louis. Two private groups want to develop the port at
St Louis. We're going to construct several oil refineries. That's to serve
the surrounding region? To serve the region, but with Libya we want to build
giant storage facilities. Iran wants to develop petro-chemicals in Senegal.
We're going to propose that Nigeria builds a refinery in Senegal, though we
haven't spoken to them yet. Private groups say they're ready to be involved
in such projects. Will the population really be ready to wait? People trust
me because they know I'm working on their behalf. You can see it daily on
radio and TV. What are the findings so far of the audit of state
enterprises? ? Huge deficits, figures bigger than you can possibly imagine.
Sotrac, the bus company, lost CFA Fr30bn; the Post Office, CFA Fr17-18 bn;
the port of Dakar... even the national lottery, Lonase. I don't know if
there's anywhere else in the world where the lottery runs at a loss! CFA
Fr4bn in the red! There are more, the national railways . . . Are these
deficits due to misuse of funds? Of course. Will the individuals concerned
be brought to justice? Absolutely. We are a law-abiding state, so we don't
want to accuse people without legal foundation. We suspect lots of things,
but we wanted to carry out our enquiries correctly.
In the old days, the Socialist Party and its election campaigns were
financed by the state companies. They couldn't touch those people. But
today, we will get the proof and put it before a judge.
Copyright: The Financial Times Limited
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2000.

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