A delegation from the opposition party banned it last January. African Patriots of Senegal in Terms of Work, Ethics and Brotherhood (PASTEF) went to Barcelona. There were MPs and Senegalese from other countries, from the US to Canada. They came to Spain, among other things, to raise money for the Senegalese presidential election campaign, which will be held on February 25. Don’ts.
This Saturday, current president Macky Sall unexpectedly suspended the elections indefinitely. There are disagreements about candidates who are allowed to present themselves. Dozens were rejected, including anti-system candidate Ousmane Sonko (of PASTEF), who has been in prison since July 2023. Critics claim this is an institutional coup aimed at preventing the opposition’s foreseeable victory. “I will launch an open national dialogue to create the conditions for free, transparent and inclusive elections,” President Sall said in his televised speech.
It doesn’t take long for protests to come in the streets. hundreds of people They clashed with the police in the capital Dakar. The government cut off internet connectivity for security reasons “due to the spread of hateful and destructive messages across networks.”
He complains to this newspaper: “We were preparing for the elections, not for this, we were preparing for the elections.” Momadou Diagne, Senegalese immigrant residing in Spain and member of the Thought and Action Group of Senegalese in Diaspora. “Our voting centers have been prepared throughout Spain. Here, in Madrid, in Lavapiés and in Torrejón.”
Spain remains silent
There is a significant Senegalese diaspora in our country. More than 85,000 people registered. The majority supports the opposition. In the last parliamentary elections in 2022, anti-government parties received 8,100 votes (from the Wallu and Yewwi parties) out of a total of 9,960 votes.
The Spanish Government is silent for now. Neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor Minister José Manuel Albares made any statement regarding the sudden postponement of the elections.
“It is noteworthy that the government has not commented on what constitutes a corporate coup,” says Diagne. This shows that Madrid may be very afraid of an opposition victory more skeptical about the presence of strangers in migration management. “The opposition coalition’s program attaches great importance to Senegal’s sovereignty in every sense: both in the use of fishing resources and in [hay empresas españolas, especialmente gallegas, como Profand o Pereira, faenando en sus costas] “Like migration management and cooperation agreements,” he emphasizes. “But on the other hand, if there is a coup, Spain will have to deal with a dictatorship, as in Mali.”
charismatic as well Ousmane Sonko and his party was banned PASTEF as the successor coalition led by Bassirou Diomayethey have a certain ideology Anti-system, nationalist and pan-Africanist. He is less docile towards the West and critical of the abuse of foreign companies and powers and the corruption this entails.
Immigration cooperation with Spain
In 2020, Spain signed an agreement cooperation agreement with Senegal strengthening regular migration and combating human trafficking networks. A year later, during Pedro Sánchez’s visit to the country, he signed two agreements with Macky Sall to guarantee “safe, orderly and orderly” migration movements. Senegal is a priority country for Spain in the Focus Africa 2023 agenda.
Senegal, among other things, allows the Civil Guard and Police, together with Frontex, to cooperate on migration issues. Spain is also sending movement control materials such as six surveillance drones He sent it last October, at the height of a surge in kayak departures.
“We know The Senegalese navy is bringing large numbers of canoes back to shore. With the cooperation of our resources (aircraft, helicopters and patrol boats) who detect them, report them for rescue and return them to land,” explained the Government delegation in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on January 31, El Día’s Isabel Durán reported. From the group Prensa Ibérica.
Record arrival in Spain
The crisis in Senegal emerged at a time when record numbers of tourists were coming from the country to Spain. According to Frontex data, 40,403 people reached the Canary Islands using the dangerous Western Mediterranean route in 2023. At least from them 6,766 of them are Senegalese, first country of origin. Half of the data does not include a country of origin, so the number of Senegalese may be higher.
This summit did not happen Since the Cayucos crisis in 2006. At the beginning of 2023, tickets were scarce. In the second half of the year, they started to rise. This coincided with the bloodiest political crisis in Senegal. President Macky Sall, who has been in power since 2012, has ruled out running for a new term. Ousmane Sonko was also found guilty of allegations of corruption against minors. Thousands of protesters took to the streets because they believed this was a trumped-up case to eliminate the real political rival. There were at least 23 deaths.
Finally Sall gave up, said he would not escape, and assigned a dolphin. Amadou Ba. All seemed well for this African democracy of 17 million people to overcome its worst political crisis in decades. Senegal, one of the few West African countries that respects the transition and separation of powers, now once again faces an uncertain future.