DAKARMATIN - Pierre Dieme 17 May 2023
Déthié Fall: "Enough is enough".
"Macky Sall is the only one responsible for the situation we are living through". This is an accusation made by Déthié Fall, one of the members of the leadership of the main opposition coalition, Yewwi Askan Wi (YAW).
"The hour is gave and extremely serious," he said in a statement made on Wednesday, May 17, after the scuffles recorded on the sidelines of the hearing before the criminal chamber of the "Sweet beauty" case opposing the leader of PASTEF, Ousmane Sonko, to the former masseuse, Adji Sarr. The clashes between the security services and protesters in Ziguinchor and Dakar have resulted in at least three (3) deaths.
Surrounded by other leaders of YAW including Khalifa Sall and Biram Soulèye Diop, the president of the Republican Party for Progress (Prp) took the opportunity to present his condolences to the grieving families of those who lost their lives in the demonstrations. He also wished a speedy recovery to the forty or so injured in the southern capital o Ziguinchor.
For Déthié Fall, "it's a real pity that we have reached this situation, in a context of Senegal, which was once envied as an island of peace" and which was once respected as "an ocean of stability" which the "President Macky Sall should preserve".
But, asserts the opposition party leader, "we tell him one thing, his plan to to remove candidates from contesting the presidential election, will not be allowed to pass. Enough is enough. We want peace but we also want our democracy to be preserved, and its renewal in 2024 to be ensured . We will not accept that he eliminates President Ousmane Sonko as a candidate from the next elections.
Déthié Fall said: "President Macky Sall was with us in 2011 (fighting against a 3rd term of the previous president Wade). He saw how the people were mobilized for him to be the beneficiary of electoral alternation in 2012. He saw what happened at the Place de l'Obélisque with all the dead (demonstrators killed by security services). We thought we would be done with that when he came to power."
He went on to warn "But today he is the one trampling on this democracy, this stability. He has a status that we recognize, that of President of the Republic, which will end in 2024. It is also up to him to respect the status of opposition leaders, that of Ousmane Sonko. Whether he likes it or not, he is a bearer of hope, of a project and deserves this respect. We say it here once again. The leadership of YAW is united, mobilised and standing up. It will confront the power and bring its support and solidarity to Ousmane Sonko. Khalifa Sall is also a victim of these practices of President Macky Sall. He served 32 months in prison. Unjustly arrested. President Macky isthe one responsible for this. Let him know that in 2024, the only person who does not have the right to participate in an election here in Senegal is him (the consitution expressly rules out a third consecutive term). All the other candidates will participate."
To finish, Déthié Falldid not fail to call on the international community. "I have already said, the hour is grave. This is the time to speak out, to remind President Macky Sall of his responsibilities, to draw his attention to the detrimental direction he has taken the country. We did not want this to happen. Since independence the opposition and the government have had to responibly cohabited in peace"
For the head of the PRP, this is no longer the case. "The government in power is multiplying the obstacles, preventing opposition leaders from playing their role"
Dié BA
