THE NEWEST ROUND OF CABINET "FINE-TUNING"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000268 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W, INR/AA AND INR/B STATE PLEASE PASS USDA PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2016 TAGS: PGOV PINR EAGR ETRD SG SUBJECT: THE NEWEST ROUND OF CABINET "FINE-TUNING" REF: 05 DAKAR 03189 Classified By: CDA ROBERT P. JACKSON FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST -------------- ¶1. (C) On February 1, President Wade made a "reamenagement technique" ("technical fine tuning") of the cabinet for political and economic reasons. Two ministers were ousted, two were promoted, and, in a nod to loyalists in the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) think tank, one of their own was brought into the Cabinet. A diehard Wade loyalist, Farba Senghor, now controls the politically sensitive agriculture portfolio. Embassy requests that the "Country Background Notes" and "Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments" be updated accordingly. END SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST. WHAT'S BEHIND THE OUSTERS -------------- ¶2. (C) Mamadou Seck was removed from the Infrastructure and Transport Ministry. A source close to the President,s office told us he was fired because of his inability to take full control of the voter-rich Department of Pikine. The newspaper Walfadjiri also charged him with mismanaging one billion CFA (USD two million) and bungling the President,s main road construction projects. ¶3. (C) Maimouna Sourang NDir was generally recognized as competent at the Small Business Ministry, but her rivalry with four other Ministers in her hometown of Saint Louis threatened to weaken the PDS there. A source close to Wade hinted also that the President is not happy with the Sourang family. The Minister's brother, who lives in the U.S., organized a noisy demonstration against Wade during Wade's 2005 trip to New York to receive a human rights award. THE NEWCOMER -------------- ¶4. (U) Professor Marie Pierre Sarr, who will take over the Small Business Ministry, is a long-time Wade supporter and a leading figure in Strategy and Initiative Cell (CIS),the PDS think tank. CIS members complained they were not allowed to bring their expertise to bear on the government's management of the country, and Sarr's rise appears designed to assuage those complaints. Sarr is a law professor who specializes in business/fiscal issues. She is also a potential leader of the Dakar neighborhoods of Point E and Fann, where the current mayor, NDeye Maguette Dieye, maintains close connections to pro-Idrissa Seck dissidents within PDS. THE PRESIDENTS, MEN GET PROMOTED -------------- ¶5. (U) Farba Senghor becomes Minister of Agriculture. An apparatchik roundly criticized in the press, he successfully navigated his job at National Solidarity, where he raised one billion CFA to help victims of flooding and toured rural areas. Following Wade's populist style of close contact with local peoples, he also made donations of food and equipment. Wade made his greatest political gains among farmers in 2000, but his agricultural policy is widely seen as lackluster at best. Farba Senghor will be expected to take his political energy and his unwavering loyalty to the Wade family, to the farming areas and reignite enthusiasm for Wade. It remains to be seen, however, if this populist approach can solve the problems of the peanut sector, employing 70 percent of the population. ¶6. (C) Habib Sy becomes Minister of Infrastructure. A close friend of President Wade, he leads the PDS in the central region of Linguere, a traditional Socialist Party stronghold. He was widely seen as a failure at Agriculture. In late December, farmers organized a nationwide protest and blocked major roads to press the GOS to buy the year's peanut harvest. With the infrastructure portfolio, Sy inherits major civil engineering projects underway. Wade is counting on success in implementing infrastructure projects to play an important role in the 2007 electoral campaigns, and Wade's severest critics imply this is also a sector capable of producing kickbacks and, hence, political funds. ANOTHER ECONOMIC SECTOR IN CRISIS -------------- ¶7. (C) The GOS coupled the cabinet reshuffle with creation of an inter-ministerial committee to restructure parastatals in crisis. This is in response to widespread unease generated by Chemical Industries of Senegal,s (ICS,s) likely move for reorganization and protection from creditors. DAKAR 00000268 002 OF 002 ICS is a phosphate exporter and mainstay of the economy. Its failure could mean liquidation of 2,500 direct jobs and 25,000 indirect ones, as well as the collapse of Senegal's leading export, phosphoric acid (reftel). COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) The reshuffled cabinet is a minor correction in Wade's electoral trajectory. In order to win in 2007, Wade appears ready to sacrifice ministers with expertise and competence and to promote those who can mobilize militants and/or entice new votes with government resources. Though he has made repeated offers to the opposition to form a wide coalition government, Wade must operate on the assumption that the main opposition parties such as the Socialist Party (PS) and Alliance of forces of Progress (AFP) will continue to decline his offer. ¶9. (C) Wade's current plan seems to be to reinforce his cabinet with PDS members devoted to him who can mobilize large numbers of voters at grassroots level. The result may well be an atmosphere of permanent electoral campaign. Many Senegalese deplore this situation and some may be losing faith in the political class and its willingness to focus on the country,s real problems. Embassy requests that the "Country Background Notes" and "Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments" be updated to reflect these changes. END COMMENT. JACKSON