allAfrica.com: Senegal: Campaigning for the 2012 is Already Underway Page 1 of 2 HOME 17 December 2010 This cable was created on 05 November 2009, according to WikiLeaks. UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 001376 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL AND INR/AA PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS KDEM ECON SG SUBJECT: Senegal: Campaigning for the 2012 is Already Underway ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Although presidential elections are not slated until February 2012, the ruling Democratic Party of Senegal (PDS) and the opposition Benno coalition (unity in Wolof) continue to spar against one another while internal debates rage as to who will represent them in the election. President Abdoulaye Wade's plan to have his son Karim succeed him is not popular among the Senegalese, a fact that led him to announce that he will run in 2012 (at the age of 86) for a seven-year term. This comes amid rumors of yet another constitutional amendment in the works - this time aimed at eliminating a second round runoff - thus increasing the chances of Wade being reelected. End Summary. Call for political dialogue --------------------------¶2. (SBU) Most of Senegal's leading opposition parties are not represented in the National Assembly after they boycottd the 2007 legislative elections. Following those elections, the opposition called for a politica dialogue to address the electoral law and to reorm voter registration. Until the PDS lost big inrecnt local elections, Wade had continually refsed this call, saying that he would not bail out an opposition that was paying for bad political choices. However, now a new paradigm exists whereby political dialogue is less urgent for the opposition but more so for Wade. Out Come the Skeletons ---------------------¶3. (SBU) In July, the opposition demanded that Wade include in any agenda of dialogue a discussion of the assassination of Judge Seye in 1993. At the time Wade was accused of being its instigator, a rumor that gained traction when he pardoned all the perpetrators who were jailed in the case after winning the Presidency in 2000. Wade's response to this request left the opposition astounded. He accused the Socialist Party, who had ruled the country from 1960 to 2000, of being behind the assassination of Police Chief Sadibou Ndiaye in 1989 and the mysterious deaths of two young female albinos whose disappearance was never clarified. He threatened to reveal more if the opposition continued down this path. The opposition duly dropped the matter and, in a letter dated October 8, they proposed nine points of discussion for a dialogue. These included: urgent social issues, the electoral system, the Casamance crisis, public finances, political and institutional governance, liberties and the rule of law, the business environment and employment. President Wade accepted all nine points, even though he had initially refused to discuss electoral and human rights issues, arguing that the electoral system was good enough to allow the opposition to win local elections and that Senegal's election to the United Nation's Human Rights Council underlined his government's positive track record. However, his acceptance came with preconditions. He demanded that the issues of public finance be discussed with government ministers live on camera in the presence of religious leaders and diplomats. The opposition rejected these preconditions and the process is now at a standstill. Wade Unites his Satraps ----------------------¶4. (SBU) Wade's most recent political strategy aims to reduce dissent in his coalition. By appointing senior dissident leader Aminata Tall to a top position in the cabinet and negotiating with his former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck, who is rumored to be making a comeback to reenergize the PDS, Wade is hoping to create a grand presidential coalition that will once again carry him to power. However, the reality is that this strategy is fragile, as popular former Prime Minister Macky Sall is opposed to returning to Wade's coalition and Idrissa Seck and Karim Wade detest one another. The President is cornered, but... http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/201012170858.html 5/3/2011