Senegal: Presidential Elections 2019 - The Shining Example of Democratic Transition Immersed in Muddy Power-Politics

Abstract

Whereas Senegal has long been sold as a showcase of democracy in Africa, including peaceful political alternance, things apparently changed fundamentally with the Senegalese presidentials of 2019 that brought new configurations. One of the major issues was political transhumance that has been elevated to the rank of religion in defiance of morality. It threatened political stability and peace. In response, social networks of predominantly young activists, created in 2011 in the aftermath of the Arab Spring focused on grass-roots advocacy with the electorate on good governance and democracy. They proposed a break with a political system that they consider as neo-colonialist. Moreover, Senegal’s justice is frequently accused to be biased, and the servility of the Constitutional Council which is in the first place an electoral court has often been denounced.

Keywords: Senegal, presidential elections, governance, political change, political transhumance, social networks, West Africa, WAEMU, ECOWAS, civic agency

JEL Classification: N17, N37, N97, O17, O35, P16, Z13