cc W E F Politics under Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has come to represent a depressingly familiar picture of elite dominance and broad social inequality, writes Amy Niang. With no clear succession plan in place and the state's legitimacy continuing to erode, the absence of an institutionalised effort to achieve stability in the political system remains a salient obstacle to democratic change, argues Niang.
Politics in Senegal under President Abdoulaye Wade has always been something of a passionate wrestling of rancid tales and counter-tales. The ruling party – the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) – has the habit of accusing the opposition of sabotaging the ‘established’ democracy of the country that sent its own list of grievances to the 1789 French revolution. The opposition in its turn points to the government’s wanton contempt towards both the citizens and institutions it is supposed to preserve. While rigidly eschewing any form of dialogue with the opposition, the Wade regime never misses an opportunity to disparage efforts initiated by the latter to reflect on issues facing the country, mainly the degrading quality of life for millions of Senegalese while state functionaries ever enjoy stupendous lifestyle. Thus the nationwide consultations and dialogue (Assises Nationales), held between 1 June 2008 and 24 May 2009 and designed to institute dialogue across politics and society, were met with derision and dismissive condescension by the Wade government.