The PDS-Time for a Change

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 001541 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL/AE AND INR/AA E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/16/2017 TAGS: PGOV PINS SOCI PINR KDEM KISL SG SUBJECT: The PDS-Time for a Change CLASSIFIED BY POLITICAL OFFICER OSMAN N. TAT FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) After two very comfortable elections victories President Wade now feels he has the power to revamp his Democratic Party of Senegal (PDS). The two main reasons that are being cited for this restructuring are that he is preparing a new platform for his son Karim to use as a springboard to the Presidency and the need to legitimize the many new party members whom Wade lured after he became President in 2000. End Summary ¶2. (SBU) On paper the PDS seems like a well organized party with a clear hierarchy and institutions. However, the reality is that power has always been pooled in the hands of the President and it is becoming increasingly difficult for him to manage a party that is almost three times bigger today than it was when he became President in 2000. Further, the lack of a well established internal apparatus and central leadership structure that holds regular elections means that newcomers are being promoted arbitrarily and extremely fast, while Wade stalwarts who have been with him since the 1970's are being relegated to the sidelines. In an interview with Boubabcar Ba (protect),head of the PDS's Political and Crisis Communication Office at the Presidency and Wade's nephew, he said that some local PDS leaders have not had to face internal elections in over 20 years even though their mandates ran out fifteen years ago. However, since these leaders have been with Wade since the beginning the new generation cannot yet challenge their authority. This in turn is creating massive tensions between the Old Guard and younger activists who have now begun squaring off against each other to secure prominent positions in the restructured party. Ba emphasized that the party was still being lead by a "band of friends" who think that they are the party: "These dinosaurs need to be retired but with honor. The generation du Concret is made up of younger new activists who have joined the party since 2000 but have been barred from influencing the internal dynamics. In fact many people are ready to join the PDS but not under the current structure." Ba emphasized that the party's new members are modern Senegalese and include businessmen, sports stars, successful lawyers and people who have lived and worked abroad. ¶3. (SBU) Ba went on to say that two fundamental modes of operation will be changed: The way the party functions and the way people are given positions of responsibility. He also said that the constitution of the party will also have to be modernized: "The reality is that the PDS is bloated we must be a party that can respond to both local and international realities. The men are already in place and I expect that this restructuring will be completed before the end of 2008. By the time we are done the only things that will remain the same are the name, the motto and the symbols." Who are our members anyway? -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Ba exemplified why change was necessary with an example relating to party membership. He said that internally it is estimated that the PDS has 1,200,000 members, but because the party lists have not been refreshed since 1998 it is impossible to give an accurate figure. In his Dakar suburb of Pikine (Note: the PDS has divided Pikine into 3 districts) where in 1998 there were 4,200 card carrying PDS members (Note: The PDS does not charge a membership fee, the card costs a symbolic 100 CFA-about 20 cents) 12,000 people voted for the PDS in the 2007 Presidential elections. ¶5. (C) Ba stressed that the party had not really changed since the last major Congress in 1987. Wade has on numerous occasions attempted to rebuild the PDS but every time a project took effect it was halted in its tracks. However, now that he is President and has become extremely powerful with total control over every organ of the State and all of the patronage that that entails few will dare challenge him. Khalifa Mboup (protect), Municipal Counselor of Wade's hometown of Kebemer as well as a member of Karim's generation du Concret, admits that there is no loyalty in today's PDS and that it's all about opportunity and self-interest. He adds that many in the PDS are beholden to the President and that he is surrounded by too many yes-men who do whatever he wants. By restructuring the party he puts the counter back to zero and he can start over with a new team. DAKAR 00001541 002 OF 002 The Old Guard, Legitimacy and Karim -------------- ¶6. (C) Mboup, argues that a renovation is needed because there are too many people in the party who are not considered to be "legitimate" members of the PDS because they migrated over after Wade became President in 2000. They were lured in to neutralize the opposition and thus are seen by the party faithful as being "transhumain" or "political nomads". However, while these newcomers are defectors from other parties and do not share Wade's liberal ideology some have been in the PDS for over seven years. He goes on to say that additionally up until now Wade had to always form coalitions to remain in power and that this has diluted his ability to run the government. After the restructuring Wade hopes to unite all these disparate voice under one umbrella and start anew where there will not be an old guard, or a new guard. Everybody will be members of a brand new formation. Ba similarly argues that the "immigrant cacophony" of these nomads in the party are holding the country and the party hostage and that internal groups such as the Cap 21 (a Left leaning organization within the PDS) are in a constant fight against more liberal groupings who are trying to pull the party to the Right. ¶7. (C) Cheikh Bamba Dieye, a prominent opposition Member of Parliament, dismisses all this talk of restructuring and renaissance as a smokescreen arguing that Wade's sole objective is to eliminate senior PDS leaders to open the way for his son to succeed him: "This is just a matter of self-preservation." Further, it is very important to avoid a situation where Karim ends up leading a party that is chock full of old timers who have a legitimate claim on power. Mboup voiced a similar point saying that this will undermine Karim's power and ability to lead the party. Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) While it is true that the PDS has become too bloated to manage and that there are many within the party who are only there to be close to power, the reality is that Wade's primary objective is create an organization that his son can lead. At the moment Karim has stayed in the background as his father orchestrates the sanitization of the PDS. With the appointment of a technocratic government and the exile of many former Ministers to the National Assembly and the Senate Wade has already significantly weakened the field of potential opposition to Karim. He has also insured that challengers neither have the means nor the forum to remain in the public consciousness. Karim's upcoming trip to Touba where he will inspect various projects and meet with the Mouride leadership, looks like the first step of his coming out party. (U) Visit Embassy Dakar's SIPRNET website at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/af/dakar. Smith