Senegal: WADE'S ECLECTIC NATIONAL DAY SPEECH

UNCLAS DAKAR 000449 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: WADE'S ECLECTIC NATIONAL DAY SPEECH ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On April 4, Senegal celebrated the 49th anniversary of its independence with a grandiose military and civilian parade in Dakar. In his message, President Abdoulaye Wade commented on the March 22 local elections, congratulating the opposition by conceding defeat and calling the loss of major cities, including the capital Dakar, "a breakthrough by the opposition." Wade declared he had heard the voters' call for "better governance and the need to satisfy people's basic requirements." However, barbs at the opposition and his floating the idea of a vice presidency shows that he is still too focused on his succession and politics rather than resolving social problems. End Summary. I heard you-sort-of -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Commenting on the March 22 local elections the President stated, "Fellow countrymen, I would like to say that I fully understood your message, the need for real change in governance and to satisfy your basic demands." However, Wade did not unveil any good governance initiatives but instead enumerated a plethora of fanciful economic projects. In his typical pie in the sky rhetoric, he promised young people jobs through the creation of a truck assembly line and the exploitation of gold mines in Eastern Senegal and the country's phosphate reserves, estimated at one billion tons. He also promised to turn the country's peat deposits into an energy source to replace charcoal for cooking. Furthermore, he predicted a "bright, if not illuminated future" for Senegal with the creation of a low energy bulb factory that will produce 3.5 million bulbs a year; a wind energy farm near Saint Louis; a solar energy plant in Ziguinchor, and a power plant in Ross Bethio fuelled by an invading species of plant growing in the Senegal River. One more constitutional amendment -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Indicating that he wants to reinforce the role of women in the government, Wade, as a trial balloon, floated the idea of giving the choice to women to occupy the post of Prime Minister or that of Vice President of the Republic. The problem is that Senegal has no vice presidency and its creation would require yet another constitutional amendment. There is speculation that this ploy is designed to bring back former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck who would be tasked with reorganizing Wade's fraying Democratic Party of Senegal (PDS) party and re-energizing his cabinet. Wade missed the boat -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Reacting to President Wade's message, Abdoulaye Bathily, one of the leading figures of the opposition, said "Wade missed the boat." His colleague Ousmane Tanor Dieng, the leader of the Socialist Party, added, "Wade just doesn't get it." Indeed, Wade is still trying to divide the opposition by reiterating his offer that they appoint a single leader who will be his interlocutor in a political dialogue and whose status is enshrined in the Constitution. Wade then attacked the opposition, after congratulating them, by exhorting them to be transparent in their management or face punishment from the central government. France is back -------------- ¶5. (SBU) In an unprecedented move, French soldiers stationed in Dakar took part in the celebration and paraded with Senegalese troops, drawing lots of media attention. On several occasions the President thanked France for this gesture, a great contrast to Wade's first few years in power when his relationship with France was rather poor. Going even further, he invited France and the European Union to send experts to audit Senegal's voter registration list and asked them to form an early warning committee to prevent any quarrels as to the viability of the list for the 2012 presidential election. COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Wade's message to the nation was unfortunately a rehashing of old themes, using lofty rhetoric to sell the people a used bill of goods. In the past election the Senegalese people clearly expressed their frustration with Wade's (mis)rule, which is why so many people voted to try something different in the hopes that the new incumbents might improve their standard of living. Wade's address shows that he has yet to digest his party's defeat and even though he attempted some magnanimity by congratulating the opposition, his speech was filled with rosy dreams and was overtly political in tone. An eagerly expected cabinet reshuffle in the near future will probably shed more light on Wade's real response to the vote of no confidence expressed by the Senegalese on March 22. Bernicat