Gambian Activitsts Warn about the Impact of the Macky Sall Regime in Senegal on National Security in The Gambia

 From the Open Gambia Platform

Two Gambian activists, veterans of the struggle against the dictatorship of Yakhya Diame, discuss how The Gambia and Gambians are being drawn into Macky Sall's plot against his main opponent, Ousmane Sonko. Sulayman Ben Suwareh, editor-in-chief of the Open Gambia platform and former Gambian military intelligence officer, and Juka Ceesay, civil rights activist and broadcaster, whose brother Alhajie Ceesay was murdered on Yakhya

 

The battle is more than between president Macky Sall and Ousmane Sonko - Open Gambia Editorial

 

 

 Open Gambia 18/05/2023 by Sulayman Ben Suwareh

 

President Sall seems to have miscalculated by overestimating the limited power of the incumbency under his control in a democratic dispensation.He underestimates the challenges he has to overcome to force a third-term mandate to entrench himself illegally in the democratic system that the people of Senegal are used to. Hence, he failed to learn from the history of liberation struggles and the fights against entrenched dictatorships.

 

It is most often the case that if leaders of the liberation movement organised themselves, winning the trust, and confidence, of the masses and in galvanising the power of the people, victory gets guaranteed against their adversaries

 

Herewith, it seems President Sall and the architects of his plan of entrenchment misjudged the opponent they were facing in their drive to circumvent the will of the people of Senegal. They forget that no power on the earth can control the will and govern a people successfully, however feeble, who withholds their consent. 

 

However, with arrogance, it appears that they base their assessment on assuming that the strength of controlling the power of the incumbency was enough to guarantee them victory.

 

 Additionally, they underestimated Ousmane Sonko and his Pastef party as an insignificant force that could be quickly side-lined by applying the state machinery against them. They underestimated the leadership and the group's solidarity, discipline, intelligence, and willingness to sacrifice for their nation, making them into  a formidable force. 

Hence, President Sall's administration got confronted with the reality of facing an unexpected opponent in the person of Ousmane Sonko and the PASTEF political party.

 

An unlikely force to reckon with that they have never encountered in the history of the Senegalese political landscape. Instead of just a political party, PASTEF became a liberation movement that emerged at a favourable time with a massive advantage to launch an anti-establishment movement.
With technology and the uncontrollable powers of social media, they have the leverage to become the competitive opponent against the Senegalese establishment political order. 

On the contrary, I know that Ousman Sonko is not a Saint; he’s human with faults, just like any individual.  History also teaches us that all great leaders have weaknesses. Nevertheless, what Sonko created, and not many African leaders have ever attained, is making a Pan-Africanist national anti-establishment.

He built a democratic movement from the grassroots, inclusive of the social spectrum of Senegal, in his drive to seek the power that challenges the national establishment of politicians with their imperialist patrons.

PASTEF, under Sonko, uses local Senegalese historical narratives without borrowing from any of the imperialist blocks' ideologies. But he crafted an authentic Senegalese social democratic, pragmatic development agenda to confront the status quo.

 

Henceforth, they created the most successful anti-establishment popular and credible democratic movement in modern times. This structure threatens to depose the old establishment politician in exchange for a modern Pan- Africanist Nationalist political party. 

 

He choreographed progressive agenda that would change the way his country did business with the imperialist nations threatening their strategic interest, especially of France. 

 

 PASTEF, as an anti-establishment party, has defied conventional wisdom by upstaging sub-Saharan Africa’s most established elite system of governance. This threatened to replace the establishment without using the armed struggle to win the battle or having their leaders come from the establishment parties. 

In addition, they are successfully surmounting the obstacles within the system and confronting the power of the incumbent. This advertently exposes Macky Sall’s weaknesses, forcing him to throw everything in his possession to battle them, albeit unsuccessfully.

On the other hand, I can't entirely agree with the people against the position taken by Ousmane Sonko for not attending the sham trial without the state guaranteeing his safety.

In the prevailing circumstances in Senegal, democracy and its political institutions are hijacked by the establishment bent on shamefully upending the wishes of the masses and not wanting to accord Sonko the respect he deserves. In such circumstances, anti-establishment forces must apply the conventional strategy to survive. Therefore, to demand Sonko drop his position means for him to move from his anti-establishment standpoint to join the mainstream politicians. 

This position will define the principles their movement stood for, making them potentially lose their support base. It should be recalled that the only reason Sonko/ Pastef got the support is their anti-establishment standpoint. That’s why whenever they get attacked, they become more popular with the youth and the grass root ordinary people.

The courts, in their contemporary setting, are not the solution, as it is evident that President Sall controls the judiciary. Thus, what is transpiring at the bench is not justice but machinery judiciary weaponising law to achieve a political witch-hunt.

PASTEF is aware that most oppositions or civil society leaders are part of the system that they are battling. The coalition was a temporal marriage of convenience, with different parties coming together to protect their short-term interests.

It is an open secret, and Pastef is aware that some opposition leaders are angling to take over the support base if they fail to put up Sonko as their candidate.

By observing Senegalese politics and the progress Pastef has made since they emerged on the political scene, I am confident that they have an extended strategic plan to battle beyond the elections of 2024 with the firm intention of deposing the establishment system. 

What is prevailing in Senegal is a battle between democratic and anti-democratic forces. It is a fight against corrupt establishment elites and a re-emerge of anti-establishment parties similar to prime minister Momodou Dia's generation.

Ultimately, if Senegalese allows President Macky and the mainstream corrupt elites to hijack the promising repositions of Senegalese democracy, they shall suffer the consequences.

Equally, the rest of Africa will lose the chance to experience a new approach to a democratic liberation struggle, especially in West African countries.