Senegal: Praise for President Macky Sall’s decision not to run for third term.

Positive messages have flooded into Senegal since President Macky Sall, long speculated to have been interested in seeking a third term in 2024, declared that he would not seek another mandate. His opponents are now determined to ensure that next year’s elections are held under the best possible conditions.

Dozens of supporters lined the gates of the presidential palace on the evening of 3 July, just moments after Sall concluded his address to the nation, in which he declared his intention to forego seeking a third term on 25 February 2024.

Smiling, the head of state walked to the gates of the palace, where he was cheered and congratulated by his supporters. Footage showed him a little later, still smiling, on the doorstep of his home in the residential district of Mermoz.

“We want you!†exclaimed the crowd gathered in front of the house. Sall waved his hand before stepping inside.

“Contrary to the rumours attributing an upcoming presidential campaign to me, I would like to say that I have a clear awareness and memory of what I have said, written and repeated here and elsewhere, namely that the 2019 mandate was my second and last mandate,†he said a few hours earlier.

“I have a code of honour and a sense of historical responsibility that require me to preserve my dignity and my word.â€

Torchbearer

The president’s declaration that has been applauded in Senegal and beyond. Since Monday evening, messages of support have been pouring into the country.

“I welcome the wise and salutary decision of my brother, Sall, not to stand as a candidate in the 2024 elections,†said Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the African Union Commission, who praised him as a “great statesmanâ€.

Niger’s Mohamed Bazoum also welcomed his counterpart’s announcement. “I hope that this well-considered decision will definitively calm the political climate in our sister country.â€

The Bissau-Guinean President Umaro Sissoco Embaló spoke of a “courageous decision,†adding, “you can succeed Sall, but will be difficult to replace himâ€.

Niger’s ex-president Mahamadou Issoufou, like former Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz in 2019, chose not to stand for re-election at the end of his second term in office in 2020. This decision won him the Mo Ibrahim Foundation peace prize.

“Sall has demonstrated great political intelligence. Senegal remains one of the torchbearers whose flame sets [democracy in] our continent alight,†said Issoufou.

Guterres, Blinken and Macron satisfied

Reactions also poured in from western leaders, where officials had already spoken out against the prospect of a third term in office. UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his “deep esteem†for Sall.

“Sall’s clear statement is an example to the region, unlike those who seek to erode respect for democratic principles, including term limits,†US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

President Emmanuel Macron raised the subject of a third term last month with his Senegalese counterpart. In particular, the two men had raised the possibility of a transfer, possibly to the UN or the G20, if Sall did not stand for re-election.

In Senegal, Sall’s opponents and those against a third term in office said they were relieved. One human rights activist, Alioune Tine, even spoke of “deliveranceâ€.

“I must confess to being very moved. This speech allows me to rediscover a large part of the Macky Sall of April 2012,†said Senegal’s former prime minister Abdoul Mbaye.

“Better late than never. Sall has finally accepted that the Constitution does not allow him to stand for a third time,†said former prime minister Aminata Touré, who broke with the majority last September.

“From now on, I invite the Senegalese people to mobilise so as not to let Sall decide who should, or should not, take part in the presidential election.â€

Seba remains on guard

Pan-African activist Kemi Seba spoke of a “salutary decision†but warned. “It would be profoundly naive to think that the Senegalese sovereigntist movement has won as a result of this U-turn. Those who were all allied against the idea of a third mandate will now find themselves at loggerheads, and Sall will do everything he can to take advantage of this. We must exercise vigilance, then, because Françafrique has not said its last word.â€

More sceptical voices recalled the case of Côte d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara. In 2020, he made a statement very similar to that of Sall, before changing his mind after the death of his lieutenant, former prime minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, three months before the election.

The Ivorian leader, who at the time referred to “a case of force majeure†has yet to react officially to Sall’s announcement.

“My long-considered decision is not to be a candidate in the election, even though the Constitution gives me the right to do so,†said Sall in his address to the nation, televised on Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise (RTS).

“I know that this decision will come as a surprise to all those whose admiration I know; all those who wish to see me guide the construction of Senegal. But Senegal is bigger than just me, and it is full of leaders capable of pushing the country towards emergence.â€

An entire country was hanging on his every word, as the debate over his possible third term crystallised tensions in the country, with just eight months to go before the presidential election.

‘My second and last mandate’

As Sall recalled that evening, his potential candidacy had been the subject of much speculation.

“I never wanted to be hostage to this permanent injunction to speak before the hour, because my priorities were to take action towards emergence,†he said. “The 2019 mandate was my second and last mandate. That is what I said, and that is what I am confirming this evening.â€

At the beginning of his speech, he referred to the days of violence that shook Senegal in early June after Ousmane Sonko was sentenced to two years in prison, expressing his “sadnessâ€.

“[I] bowed before the memory of the children who lost their lives under the brutal effects of violence […] The lives of our citizens cannot be sacrificed on the political altar,†he said, referring to “organized crime against Senegal and its institutionsâ€, “inadmissible acts†and “institutional machinationsâ€.

Since his re-election in 2019, Sall had refused to answer the question of his possible candidacy in 2024.

Despite the constitution stipulating that “no person may serve more than two consecutive terms†of “five yearsâ€, supporters of a third term felt that Sall, who revised the Constitution in 2016, had only served one five-year term and could therefore legitimately stand for a third term.

A nagging question

In May 2022, when we questioned him on the subject, he replied: “I will answer this question after the legislative elections. Then it will be time to set the course for 2024. In the meantime, we’ve got work to do, and not much time to spread ourselves too thin.â€

However, after the legislative elections of July 2022, which marked an unprecedented advance by the opposition and the collapse of the presidential camp’s absolute majority, Sall remained tight-lipped. He was sworn in by his party, the APR, shortly after the election.

Just days after the Sonko sentencing ruling on 1 June, the president received representatives of the employers’ association at the presidential palace. “I will do no more and no less than my predecessors,†Sall said when asked again about the possibility of running for a third term.

It was his predecessor Abdoulaye Wade who had sought a third term, before being defeated at the ballot box by his former prime minister. At the time, Sall took full advantage of the opposition to a third term to get himself elected.

Last June, in Paris, faced with supporters enthusiastically urging him to run, Sall sowed doubt. “We will remain in power with the will of the people. I will be addressing the country shortly. After this declaration, we will have everything we need to move forward and win in 2024,†he said.

Who will be the APR’s candidate?

Sall’s refusal to appoint a successor a few months before the presidential election, and the declarations of his ministers and supporters, who for several months had made him the presidential party’s candidate, led his opponents to be convinced that he would stand again.

“The time for taking stock will come later,†said the president ahead of his recent address to the nation.

“Until then, I will responsibly assume all the responsibilities of my office. I will continue to devote all my energies to the unfailing defence of the institutions, territorial integrity and the protection of people and property.â€

About The Author