Senegal's Local Elections: Court Ruling is Fishy

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000189

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS KDEM ECON SG
SUBJECT: Senegal's Local Elections: Court Ruling is Fishy

REF: DAKAR 173


1. (SBU) Summary: Dakar's Court of Appeals ruled on February 6 that
the ruling Democratic Party of Senegal (PDS) could compete in local
elections in ten rural communities despite its failure to comply
with a deadline set by the Electoral Code. The Autonomous National
Electoral Commission (CENA) and the coalition of opposition parties
expressed frustration and questioned the independence of the
judiciary after the ruling. The opposition parties announced that
they will set up "anti-fraud brigades" to counter the ruling party.
End Summary.

An Alleged Lack of "Sufficient evidence"
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2. (SBU) A panel of judges at the Court of Appeals ruled that there
was not enough evidence that documents signed by local GOS
authorities allowing the ruling coalition to hand in their lists
after a midnight January 20 deadline had passed were fraudulent.
This position divided the twenty-four members of the Court. A judge
who was involved in the secret deliberations told Embassy that the
discussion was very tense and polarized. He noted that subsequent
criticisms of the ruling in the media had shaken the members of the
court.

Judges Try to Run Out the Clock
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3. (SBU) The opposition now wants to appeal the case to the Supreme
Court, but six days after its ruling the Appeals Court has yet to
publish an official decree. Without this document, it is impossible
to appeal to the Supreme Court. The opposition fears that the Court
of Appeals is deliberately delaying the publication of their ruling
because they know they have a weak argument. The Court of Appeals
is headed by Cheikh Tidiane Diakhate who has a reputation for taking
orders from the presidency. For example, during the trial of former
Prime Minister Idrissa Seck before the High Court of Justice, he is
widely believed to have been instrumental in guiding the
investigative committee towards a pre-determined,
government-approved, political settlement.

The GOS pressured local authorities
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4. (SBU) Throughout the country, the government pressured local
authorities to ignore electoral deadlines; otherwise the PDS would
have failed to have candidates in several councils where they were
handicapped by fierce internal rivalries. In the case of the
departments of NDindi and NDoulo, the representative of the PDS
purposefully missed the deadline to take revenge against party
leaders who failed to include members of his group among the
candidates. A senior leader of the And-Jef/African Party for
Democracy and Socialism (AJ/PADS),a party allied to Wade with two
cabinet positions, told poloff that, in his city of Kaolack, he
decided to run under the banner of his own party, but to his
surprise, the identity documents of his candidates were stolen at
the office of the court clerk in Kaolack. Faced with the prospect
of missing the deadline, he alerted the media and wrote to the
Minister of Interior. The latter received him and instructed the
Governor and Prefects of Kaolack to ignore the deadline and accept
his list of candidates.

Forged lists
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5. (SBU) In five areas in the populous Pikine and Guediawaye suburbs
of Dakar, it was disgruntled PDS members who went to the opposition
to denounce the fact that their names had been added to the PDS list
without their consent. They accused the Chair of the National
Assembly, Mamadou Seck, of being the author of the fraud. To be a
candidate one has to submit a signed statement as well as a court
record. They indicated that they had neither signed nor submitted
any such papers. That case will be heard by the Court of Appeals of
Dakar on February 12.

COMMENT
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6. (SBU) Local elections are five weeks away, but many pundits
would not be surprised if Wade postpones them. There has been a
systematic violation of the Electoral Code by the Ministry of
Interior and the Court of Appeals has, so far, been turning a blind
eye. On top of this, a powerless and financially weak National
Electoral Commission is being ignored by government authorities.
Paradoxically, according to members of the PDS and its coalition
partners, Wade has decided to tacitly approve of party/coalition
dissidents to compete separately so that they can capture the votes
of unhappy electors who wish to punish the PDS. It is expected that

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after the elections, these dissidents will come back to the fold one
way or another, thus ensuring PDS control of local governments.
Bernicat