Elections

Top: One of the many posters around town advertising the party of President Abdoulaye Wade. The party's slogan, SOPI, means "change" in Wolof.

Bottom: A poster featuring the ruling party's slate for the district of Dakar - the poster has been defaced by an opposition call to boycott.

On Sunday, Senegal will hold legislative elections, following the presidential elections in February that returned Abdoulaye Wade (who is over 80 years old) to power. Wade used to symbolize Senegalese democracy, since he came to power fairly and peacefully in 2000 after winning an election against the party which had held power since independence. However, lately he's turned more autocratic, briefly imprisoning a well-known journalist in 2004 and his main political opponent in 2005 (they've since "reconciled"), and otherwise throwing his weight around. (If you're at all interested in the press freedom angle, the briefing I wrote two years ago on Senegalese journalists' attempts to lobby for greater legal protection is still, sadly, relevant. Even though reforming colonial-era national security laws that threaten the media and political critics was one of Wade's campaign promises in 2000, they remain on the books today. The briefing (with pictures of Senegalese media outlets) is at: http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2005/senegal_05/senegal_05.html)

The presidential vote was generally considered free and fair, but the opposition said that Wade used state funds (likely, given that every single billboard in the city seems to have Wade's face on it) and shady voter registration tactics (more difficult to gauge) to ensure victory, and announced they would boycott the legislative elections. This was probably initially intended as a bargaining tactic, but instead of bringing the ruling party to the table, Wade rejected any move to negotiate. The result is that Wade's party will sweep the elections, with turnout assumed to be at a record low.