Couple dance on the red carpet

Who is entitled to walk the red carpet? The Republic is first and foremost a symbol and in the deployment of its ceremonies, protocol always recalls the customs of a political system where, despite the separation of powers, the President of the Republic is the cornerstone of institutions. He is indeed a “monarch” since the many exclusive rights granted to him, including the right to walk the red carpet at the ceremonies marking his territory that he presides over, systematically recall the scope of his power. Can this sense of superiority be shared? Since the inauguration of the new President of the Republic on April 2 and the choice of the leader of the Pastaf to lead the government, the coalition has been scrutinized, its decisions analyzed from the perspective of convergence or divergence, and speculation about his future is lively. Especially the interpretation of gestures and postures. During the official ceremony, the focus of the camera on the Prime Minister’s footsteps was adjusted, indicating that his relationship with the head of state will strongly affect this five-year term…

“I will govern in full,” the head of government replied, adding that “Diomaye is Sonko; Sonko is Diomaye, and that is what they do not want to hear.” Last June 9, at the Grand Theater of Dakar, in front of a crowd of activists, it was his first “political” outing after the inauguration of the team. “I will walk this red carpet as I please,” added Ousmane Sonko, as if to express that his close relationship with the President of the Republic goes beyond the framework that observers would like. Of course, opponents will no doubt point to the possible duality of an executive with two powerful poles, where the responsibility of the head of state to his political mentor is compensated by his signing power; the head of state serves a five-year term; the prime minister’s appointment is adjusted for a period according to the will of the president. But as we recently wrote in these columns, “Ousmane Sonko is more than just a prime minister; he is the leader of the main political force in the country.”

Abdou Latif Coulibaly, former minister and new opposition figure, declared the day before yesterday that “the Prime Minister must understand that he is not the President of the Republic, he did what he had to do and was cautious”. However, he clarified that if “President Diomaye accepts this situation, they will be able to move forward without worries, and it seems that Diomaye is in this position”. What situation? This is what we have seen for three months: a Prime Minister at the helm, who has adjusted his party to a new position, with broad responsibility for the affairs of the country for its members; a head of government who has made promises in various areas, including the cost of life, land speculation, the restoration of the viability of public finances, all caused by government responsibilities. But there is also “political dialogue”, which any power maintains with public opinion and opponents. “We must have a positive prior about the fact that there is no duality at the highest level of the State,” estimated Professor Maurice Soudieck Dione on April 7. Yes, there are always risks of duality, but these risks of duality are avoidable if everyone is clearly aware of the degree of their skills and there is a permanent consultation between the two. “In fact, this hyper-presidentialization will be rationalized by the fact that, whatever people say, he was the key and catalyst for this sensational victory and brilliant election” of President Basilu Diomaye Faye. He “has a favorable bias against the two given the actions that Ousmane Sonko had taken before that, and the personality of Basilu Diomaye Faye, who is a smart, methodical, cool-headed and non-brained man,” added the political science teacher and researcher.

If the power tandem has attracted so much attention, it is because for the critics of Pastev and his new presidential majority, it evokes the trauma of the origins of hyper-presidentialization: the crisis between Leopold Sedar Senghor and Mamadou Dia in 1962. For his supporters, on the contrary, it is completely beneficial, the connection between President Basilu Diomaye Faye and the Prime Minister is only the manifestation of one aspect of the “plan”, which is to minimize the ego and sublimate the common ideal. Above all, thinking about this theme always returns to the situation of the general elections in April 2024: democracy is undermined, the leader of the main opposition party is prevented from participating in the elections, the candidate who was finally designated and the future winner himself is released from prison just before the start of the campaign. There is no shortage of examples of “Diomaye-Sonko” associations around the world, the specifics of which depend on the nature of the people and the regime. In our neighborhood, in the Gambia, President Barrow reconsidered his promise to step down three years after being appointed by Ousseino Darbo. In Russia (Putin as president and Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister), in India (editor – Sonia Gandhi, due to her original Italian citizenship, chose not to become prime minister, but continued to play a key role as leader of the Congress Party; in Singapore, the city-state’s founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, also resigned, and then continued to exercise influence as a senior minister and later mentor minister). It can be said that there have been no unprecedented situations. To be sure, Senegalese judge their leaders based on other considerations, not impossible bets.

(Sambudiya Chamber of Commerce)