Senegal: President Wade's Final Assault Against National

UNCLAS DAKAR 001196 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL AND INR/AA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS KDEM SG SUBJECT: Senegal: President Wade's Final Assault Against National Assembly Chair ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On October 13, the Senegalese Congress (National Assembly and Senate in joint session) held an emergency meeting to amend the Constitution to allow for the removal of the President of the National Assembly, Macky Sall, from his post. Despite having applied tremendous political pressure for the past year, President Abdoulaye Wade has failed to force Sall to resign and could not force his removal from office given his constitutionally determined five-year term of office. By resorting to a modifying the Constitution to resolve a political fight within the ruling Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS),Wade has again demonstrated the extent to which he dominates the country's political scene. While in theory Senegal's government is based on a clear separation of powers, in practice the overwhelming majority of the ruling PDS in parliament and Wade's virtually unchallenged power over the PDS has resulted in virtually unfettered executive power. END SUMMARY Emergency Process Used to Settle a Political Score -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) For almost a year, President Wade has been pressuring Sall to resign his position as President of the National Assembly. Sall angered Wade last year by daring to attempt to convoke Wade's son Karim, the head of ANOCI, the independent state agency responsible for organizing the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which took place in March. ANOCI had been criticized in the press for its opaque accounting practices and there were (and continue to be) many allegations that Karim was guilty of malfeasance and embezzlement of government funds. Sall attempted to convoke Karim to testify about his agency's work. This was widely viewed as an attempt to embarrass Karim and eliminate him as a potential presidential successor thus opening the way for Sall himself. President Wade's reaction was swift and devastating. Although Sall had served as his prime minister, managed his campaign for reelection, and been placed in the role of number two of the PDS and president of the National Assembly by Wade, the President moved immediately to strip Sall of his party position and to pressure him to resign his leadership position in the National Assembly as punishment. ¶3. (SBU) While Sall had received a temporary reprieve after the intervention of the caliph-general of the Mourides Muslim brotherhood in January, Wade returned to the matter of punishing Sall after returning from his summer vacation in September. In spite of the dire economic and budgetary situation in which the country find's itself, the parliament's first order of business upon returning from summer recess was the removal of Sall. In a marathon session lasting four days the National Assembly and the Senate adopted an amendment to Article 62 of the Constitution to shorten the term of the President of the National Assembly. In the National Assembly, which has 150 members, the amendment was passed by 95 votes for, 18 against, two abstentions and 35 no-shows. In the Senate, which has 100 members, 99 voted for the amendment and 1 was against. Nine opposition parties voted against the amendment saying that the government's priority should be to address the urgent issues facing the country, such as the current energy crisis, and not tinkering with the Constitution to settle political scores within the PDS. What has changed? -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Article 62 of the Constitution stated that both the President of the National Assembly and the President of the Senate were elected to those positions for the duration of the legislature, i.e. five years. The article has now been amended to state that the president of each body and the members of the Bureaus are elected for one year, renewable. The National Assembly, unlike the Senate, also introduced a new provision that makes it possible for a group of at least 38 members of the National Assembly to propose a resolution at any time to fire a member of the "Bureau" including the Chair of the Assembly. That resolution will pass if supported by a simple majority of the Assembly. COMMENT -------------- ¶4. (SBU) One the senior vice-presidents of the Assembly told Embassy that Wade wants a yes man to head the Assembly. The removal of Sall seems to be part of Wade's strategy to eliminate young ambitious leaders within the PDS who may pose a threat to Wade's plan to choose his own successor, ostensibly his son. Local elections slated for March 2008, if held, will give us a clearer indication of whether or not Wade remains strong enough to neutralize these kinds of opponents within his party's rank and shape the political landscape for his son to succeed him. SMITH