Mame Boye Diao, Doura Baldé and 6 other mayors of the department of Kolda, or the 14 of the department of Mbacké, including Gallo Ba, former Minister of the Civil Service, Papa Banda Dièye of Tambacounda, Malick Sall, former Minister of Justice…, such is the non-exhaustive list of defectors from the former ruling party for the new green meadows of Pastef. Adji Mbergane Kanouté is, for the moment, the last in a long list of officials of the power defeated in March 2024 who have decided to support Pastef’s list in the Legislative elections. Given the previous positions she held, notably when the Prime Minister refused to make his General Policy Declaration, and especially the respect and consideration she had won in the eyes of public opinion, her transhumance surprised more than a few. one and the arguments put forward are lighter than duck down. To say that Dean Alla Kane “deserves unreserved support for representing the People he has never stopped defending” is still taking the children of the Good Lord for wild ducks.
But deep down, Pastef remained constant in his abject approach of conquering power by any means, including immoral means. And this, despite declarations here and there of rejection of political nomadism. “If we have to ally ourselves with those for whom we entered politics, it is better to abandon politics and go do something else.” This declaration by the leader of Pastef on the eve of the Legislative elections in 2017 will however be followed by an alliance with Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade, after having sung the praises of Wade-Père, to whom the guillotine had been promised for having mismanaged this country , like all former presidents of the Republic between 2019 and 2024. And we will try to justify everything by the “context”.
Occasional speeches are Pastef’s own. “I recall the historic position of our party. Pastef remains open to collaborating with all Senegalese people convinced by the project and concerned about its success. On the other hand, it remains closed to any person involved in a scandalous management of a public responsibility or having shown excessive zeal in enmity against the party, its leaders or its members. Then the speech becomes more conciliatory: “Let those who want to join us stay in their base.” But ultimately, who decided that so-and-so has clean hands or dirty hands?
The fear of losing the Legislative…
Faced with the systematic rejection of the phenomenon, Pastef wants to sell us that a “circle is a square” by using semantics. Today, in the presidential camp, the transhumants are called “allies”, “supporters”. Fadilou Keïta even stepped up to the plate to clarify that “Pastef has not welcomed new memberships. Pastef has not recorded any transhumance. On the other hand, the movement received several supports, notably from elected officials and political actors from the Pds, the Apr and other parties. It’s true. Between peripatetic, prostitute, tout, we are not talking about the same thing. Pastef wanted to champion the restoration of morals and ethics in politics, and to never accept transhumance. But today, Sonko and his supporters have raised transhumance to a scale that could kill the morality, honor and dignity of politicians for a long time. Pastef has in fact become the Mbeubeuss (garbage dump) of the political space to the point of distorting the dynamic of JubJubal-Jubanti advocated by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye by launching into a frantic race for adoption and domestication of wild animals and reptiles which have roamed and flirted with all the parties in the surrounding area. We are entitled to ask ourselves who these political actors think they are who are handing themselves over hand and foot to the enemy to be defeated only a few months ago? We must also ask ourselves who these same actors take their activists, companions and voters for? Or is the fear of losing the Legislative elections for Pastef worth all these contortions to swallow his vomit by opening the scum ball?
Basically, Pastef may try to stand out, but the reality is simple and disconcerting at the same time: same pipe, same tobacco. Indeed, politics in Senegal is not a matter of ideologies or convictions. The social project, the economic program, let’s not even talk about it! It’s always a man’s business! There are just two parties in Senegal: the Ruling Party (Pap) and the Party of Opposites (Pdo). The Pap today is Pastef and his allies who are waiting for their “pastilles”. Those who leave to join them await their “piece of the pie” under the noses of the “historical defenders of the Project”. And, opposite the Pap, there is the Pdo scattered, disorganized, which is looking for a leader or a guide. Macky Sall could have been this good guide, but he preferred to carry out a WhatsApp electoral campaign. That is to say teleworking. And strangely, that seems to satisfy his supporters.
In Senegal no one wants to change the system
Ultimately, it’s not a matter of people, it’s a matter of the system. Indeed, it is men who make the system, but in Senegal no one wants to change the system. It’s just “get out of there so I can get started”. Those who fight power, for the overwhelming majority, only seek to seize the system to perpetuate what they denounced yesterday. Didn’t we denounce the mission managers of the institutions yesterday only to see today Pastef appoint almost fifty of them in one go?
And as long as the system does not change, political actors will always be attracted by the golden paneling of power, seen as a means of serving themselves rather than serving the community, the general interest. Men in power will always be tempted to retain this power, even if it means doing the most abominable things. Ansoumana Dionne, president of Assam, is right to point out transhumance as “another form of mental illness”. “In politics, if loyalty or respect for the word given is totally flouted by the people who are supposed to lead our country, there is reason to worry about stability and social cohesion in the Nation.” And added: “And, it is our political actors who, unfortunately, are at the origin of the promotion of lies and other counter-values which, without a doubt, risk plunging our country into an economic catastrophe. You must first be a hypocrite, in the true sense of the term, to agree to sell your own honor for privileges (…). Our society today, based on the promotion of mediocrity, injustice, wickedness, among others, needs to be reviewed in depth.”
Politics is noble, but Senegalese politicians are ignoble. And we must not despair of living in a Republic where values are at the center of political governance. But it’s not with Pastef, unfortunately.
POST WRITING
This is the place to pay tribute to Mamadou Moustapha Ba. This great civil servant who devoted his life to serving his country. Tributes are pouring in from everywhere, the former as well as the current President of the Republic, Amadou Ba, as well as senior officials of the IMF. This is also the place to distinguish the tribute that Cemga Mbaye Cissé paid him among the lot. But also to question the silence of Cheikh Diba and the Ministry of the Economy. Can they pay homage to someone whom, not long ago, the head of government accused of being a forger under their approving silence?
