Senegal - History and Politics
Constitution & political system
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Constitution
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- adopted March 1963, revised 1991
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Legal system
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- based on the Napoleonic Code and the 1963 constitution
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Legislative branch
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- National Assembly (140 seats); Senate (48 seats)
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Elections
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- Legislative, last held May 1998; Presidential, last held March 2000
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Political groupings and alliances
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Parti socialiste (PS, the dominant party in the National Assembly)
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Parti démcratique sénégalais (PDS, the president’s party)
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Parti de l’indépendance et du travail (PIT)
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Ligue démocratique-Mouvement pour le parti du travail (LD-MPT)
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And-jef/Parti africain pour la démocratie et le socialisme (AJ/PADS)
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Convention des démocrates et des patriotes-Garab Gi (CDP-Garab Gi)
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Parti libéral sénégalais (PLS)
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Union pour le renouveau démocratique (URD)
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History
The Republic of Senegal is the most westerly state of Africa. It covers an area of 196,722 sq. km (75,955sq miles). The May 1988 population census of Senegal stood at 6,896,808 and an estimated 8,152,000 at mid-1993. The southern border of Senegal is first with Guinea-Bissau and then with Guinea on the northern edge of the outcrop of Fouta Djallon. It shares its eastern border with Mali, the northern border with Mauritania and Gambia forms a semi-enclave between part of southern Senegal and the sea. It is bordered on its western side by the Atlantic Ocean.
Pre-colonial history
It is now known that Senegal has been inhabited since Paleolithic and Neolithic period. This has been evidenced by the discovery of household implements and tools and stone circles. Added to these discoveries are copper and iron objects, which have been discovered in the Sine-Saloum region. One of the major ethnic groups the Tukulor occupied the lower Senegal Valley since the 11th century. It is now widely believed that the name of the country is derived from the Zenega Berbers of Mauritania and northern Senegal.
Just before 1040, the Zenega Berbers established what is now widely accepted as a Muslim Monastery, which eventually became the base of the Almoravids. These Almoravids eventually converted the Tukulor to Islam. Interestingly enough, these Almoravids managed to defeat all the major Kingdoms – Ghana and Morocco – and entered Spain. Between 1150 and 1350, the kingdom of Jolof was established. However, in the 16th century, it became factionalised into four kingdoms, which competed with each other. These are: the Jolof, Walo, Cajor (Kajor) and Bawol (Baol) kingdoms.
Senegalese exposure to European trade started in 1444 when the Portuguese established trading posts along the coast on the river Senegal, Goree (which eventually became a major slave transit post) Rufisque and along the south as a whole.
Reflective of the European struggles for power along Africa’s coast, the Portuguese were displaced by the Dutch and eventually the French. French hegemony eventually resulted in the establishment of a factory in 1659 at N’dar and eventually became the town of Saint-Louis. The eventual decline of Dutch influence in Senegal was the French conquest of Goree in 1677 resulting in an increased French trade in slaves, gold and gum.
While these struggles for power among the European powers were going on, the Serer of Sine and Saloum also used this period to establish independent kingdoms. With the spread of Islamic influences in the Kingdoms, islam gained strength and finally in 1776, Tukulor Muslims established a theocratic confederacy in Fouta Toro.
Colonial history
Senegal was under French rule during its colonial period and inherited a legacy of democratic principles. This is evidenced by a variety of political forces that emerged during the 1950s including a strong trade union movement, Islamic sects and exponents of Marxism. The Union progressiste sénégalaise (UPS) was founded in 1958 by Leopold Sedar Senghor, a widely respected poet and academic, who combined the support of foreign and local business interests, Islamic leaders and socialists. The success of the UPS as a political group was aided by a ban on the activities of the Marxist Parti africain de l’independance (PAI), another political grouping at the time. In November 1958 Senegal became a self-governing member of the French Community. Prior to independence, Senegal was not spared the need to enter into a form of Federation or Union entered into by various West African countries at the time. The Mali Federation with Soudan (now Mali) was formed in April 1959, and became independent on June 20th 1960. Nevertheless, owing to the incompatibility of the two leaderships, Senegal seceded to become a separate independent state on 20th of August 1960.
Post Independence
The Republic of Senegal was thus proclaimed on 5 September 1960 with Senghor as its president. Senegal at independence in 1960- after 300 years of French rule- already had a limited experience of democracy as indicated above. The inhabitants of its principal towns had received a form of French citizenship in the 19th century and had been represented in the French national assembly. Dakar, as an administrative centre of French West Africa and now the capital of Senegal, was an active centre for African politics. Senghor’s Prime Minister was the socialist Mamadou Dia, who attempted, despite French opposition to introduce comprehensive national planning. He however fell out of favour with Senghor and was later arrested in December 1962 and sentenced to life imprisonment, convicted of organising an attempted coup. Senghor assumed the premiership after Dia’s arrest.
Senegalese foreign policy at time was geared towards the encouragement of French private investment and its (French) use of military facilities in Senegal.
Governance was conducted on somewhat inchoate democratic principles which developed over time in the post independence era. In 1963, a revised constitution strengthening the powers of the president was approved in a referendum, while the UPS also won a decisive victory in elections to the national assembly later in the year. The opposition parties, after the 1963 elections, had some problems with the ruling party which was reflected in serious rioting in Dakar. This eventually led to the banning of these political parties with others absorbed into the UPS, which in 1966 was the sole legal party. The principal legal opposition movement, the Bloc des masses sénégalaises, led by Cheikh Anta Diop, was outlawed. Other forms of unrest in the education sector and the trade union movement in 1968, prompted the government to promise educational reforms and consessions to workers. Subsequent attempts by government however to co-opt union leaders into its Confédération nationale des travailleurs sénégalais (CNTS) were resisted by more militant labour activists.
The 1970s marked an important time in the political history of Senegal owing to its definition of and impact on current political trends. The office of the Prime Minister was revived and assigned to a young provincial administrator, Abdou Diouf (who later became the President in 1981for 19 years). Party political activity in general also intensified. The ruling party (UPS) was re-elected in January 1973 with Senghor still as the president. The political situation at the time favoured the UPS which had huge majorities in the polls but this was not devoid of the usual political unrest that characterised elections in the West African sub-region and other parts of the world. Further student unrest ensued. In March, Dia was released from detention, and in July, the government permitted the registration of a new political party, the Parti démocratique sénégalais (PDS), led by a lawyer, Abdoulaye Wade (who was in opposition for over two decades). In 1976, Senghor announced the formation of a three-party system, comprising the UPS (which was renamed the Parti socialiste-PS), the PDS and a Marxist-Leninist party, to be formed by members of the PAI. Other prominent politicians who were not included formed unofficial parties: Cheikh Anta Diop established the Rassemblement national démocratique (RND), and in 1978 Dia founded the Coordination de l’opposition sénégalaise unie. The 1978 February national assembly elections again saw the PS wining 83 of the 100 seats in the assembly while Senghor overwhelmingly defeated Abdoulaye Wade in the presidential elections. A fourth political grouping, the right-wing mouvement républicain sénégalais, was officially recognised but ceased to exist by the early 1990s.
The late 1970s and early 1980s brought in it is wake, declining economic conditions both on the African continent and the world at large. A global recession characterised by oil price hikes, reduction in prices of primary commodities on the world market and the issue of debt crisis induced agitation and intense pressure for imaginative political reforms. The situation was no different in Senegal and formed the basis for Senghor’s resignation in December 1980. Diouf, thus, assumed the presidency in January 1981-also becoming secretary-general of the PS- and undertook a vigorous reorganisation of the political system.
Under Diouf’s leadership, the country consolidated its democratic practices though with some hiccups in the area of dealing with opposition pressures, constitutional concessions, post-election unrest and the intractable issue of Separatism in the Casamance among others.
In April 1981, a few months after taking office, Diouf removed restrictions on political activity and in the following months, the RND and numerous smaller parties- many of which had socialist sympathies- were officially registered.
Externally, Senegal became involved in the affairs of the Gambia in August 1981 when the then deposed president, Sir Dawda Jawara requested Abdul Diouf to help restore him to power. This effort occasioned Diouf and Jawara to work quickly to set up a confederation of the two states with coordinated policies in defence, foreign affairs and economic and financial matters. An agreement establishing the Senegambian confederation was formally ratified in December 1981 and came into effect in February 1982. Diouf was designated permanent president of joint council of ministers and a confederal assembly was established. Subsequent arrangements were reached in the area of defence and security, foreign policy, communications and transport. This integration process, however, suffered a setback when Gambia resisted attempts by Senegal to proceed towards the full political and economic integration between the two countries.
In February 1983, Diouf led the PS again to a clear victory- receiving 83.5% of votes cast and the PS candidates securing 79.9% of the vote for seats in the national assembly. This indicated the immense goodwill the government had as a result of Diouf’s gradual anti-corruption campaign at the time. The PDS won eight seats and the RND only one. Diouf, in forming a new government in April 1983, focused on strengthening his own powers with the abolition of the premiership and continued his purge of the party old political elite. Habib Thiam, who was the Prime Minister since 1981, was transferred to the presidency of the national assembly and named Diouf’s automatic successor. Under the pressure of the‘party old guards’ however, Thiam was forced to resign as president of the national assembly following a decision to re-elect a new parliamentary leader every 12 months.
The long tenure of the PS can be attributed to lack of unity among the various political groupings in the country. This persistent disunity continued until the mid-1980s. A boycott by 12 of the country’s 15 registered parties contributed to the success of the PS in municipal and rural elections in November 1984. In July 1985 however, the PDS joined with four other opposition parties to form the Alliance démocratique sénégalaise (ADS), under the leadership of Abdoulaye Bathily, the leader of the Ligue démocratique-Mouvement pour le parti du travail (LD-MPT). This effort culminated in the arrest and a one week detention of Wade, Bathily and 14 others for‘unauthorised demonstration’. Government in the face of opposition pressures banned the ADS in September on the grounds that the constitution did not allow such coalitions.
Internal divisions again undermined the authority of the PDS- demanding electoral reforms. Three PDS deputies departed from the party in October 1985 and the deputy PDS leader resigning from parliament and the PDS in June 1986. A new PDS splinter group emerged in June the same year, the Parti démocratique sénégalais-Rénovation (PDS-R), under the leadership of Serigne Diop. Student protest in Dakar’s Cheikh Anta Diop University in early 1987 against the late payment of grants and poor living conditions led to the dismissal of the minister of interior and the suspension of 6000 police officers. Paramilitary forces were thus employed to carry out police duties until nearly 5000 police officers were reinstated and the main antagonists permanently dismissed.
The February 1988 presidential and legislative elections marked changes on political scene in Senegal as the opposition started chalking success in terms of a gradual increase in the percentage of votes attained. Though preliminary results indicated decisive victory (73.2%) for both Diouf and the PS, Wade obtained 25.8% of votes cast among other three candidates. The PS obtained 103 seats in the national assembly and the PDS the remaining 17.
Current Political Situation
Having gone through a considerable period of democratic consolidation, the issue of constitutional concessions and the handling of post-election unrest as well as catering for the interest of various political, economic and social groupings became increasingly relevant in terms of good governance.
In March 1991 the national assembly approved several constitutional amendments, the notable one among them being the restoration of the post of Prime Minister in an attempt to avoid making the presidency too powerful. Opposition parties under this concession were allowed to participate in government. Thiam Habib was restored, accordingly, as Prime Minister in April 1991. Members of his government included among others, four representatives of the PDS; Wade as minister of state, Ousmane Ngom (the party’s parliamentary leader) who became minister of labour and professional training and Amath Dansokho as minister of housing and town planning.
Amendments to the electoral code included a seven-year term of office for the president limited to a maximum of two terms. The presidential elections would also take place in two rounds if necessary in which case the president would have been elected by at least one-quarter of registered voters and by an absolute majority of votes cast. Elections to the presidency would no longer coincide with legislative elections, which would continue to take place at five-yearly intervals. The eligibility age for voting was also lowered from 21 to 18 years of age. A reform of the organs of the judiciary was implemented as a result of which the supreme court was abolished and its functions divided between three new bodies: a constitutional court, a council of state and a court of higher appeal.
The 1993 presidential election (which took place on 21 February) had eight presidential candidates contesting; an increment on past elections. Despite some irregularities, voting was reported to be well-ordered in most areas although the Casamance region was reported to have experienced serious incidents. Diouf won a clear majority of overall votes (58.4%) while Wade secured 32.0%; an improvement on the past presidential election results.
Post-election unrest characterised the elections to the national assembly which took place on May 9 1993 with the PS wining 84 of the assembly’s 120 seats, the PDS, 27 and the rest divided between three other parties and one electoral alliance. A political tension between the various parties was manifest. Wade and three other leaders of the PDS were detained for three days in connection with the murder of Babacar Seye, the vice president of the constitutional council. This brought about a lot of protest from opponents that its opponents were plotting to discredit them. Wade and the PDS were excluded from the Habib Thiam’s new government, formed in June 1993. Relations between the Diouf administration and parties outside the government coalition (Coordination des forces démocratiques (CFD) deteriorated in the second half of 1993.
Similar to the post-election unrest that the government had to deal with is the issue of Separatism in the Casamance region. Senegalese authorities had consistently refuted the Mouvement des forces démocratiques de la Casamance (MFDC) assertions that documents from the colonial era indicated that France favoured the independence of Casamance. This issue has perpetuated the conflict in this region spanning the days of Senghor to current time. The sentiment among the Dialo communities in the southern region, which is virtually cut from the rest of Senegal by the enclave of the Gambia has resulted in loss of several lives and presented considerable security difficulties. Several efforts at mediation and negotiations by peace commissions, Amnesty International and other countries in the region have proven difficult. In December 1993 France issued its judgement that Casamance had not existed as an autonomous territory prior to colonial period, and that independence for the region had been neither demanded nor considered at the time of decolonisation. Diouf visited Zinguinchor (one of the administrative regions into which Casamance was divided in 1984) in May 1993 and expressed his commitment to the pursuit of peace. He stated that the ongoing process of administrative decentralisation would afford greater autonomy to regional structures reiterating, nevertheless, that it was a‘permanent and historical’ fact that Casamance was an integral part of Senegal. By late August 1996 there was renewed optimism regarding the likely resumption of negotiations between a united MFDC and the authorities, following discussions in Ziguinchor between Diamacoune Senghor and Diouf’s personal chief of staff.
Senegal’s relationship with neighbours, regional bodies and international organisations hinged on a traditional policy of peaceful coexistence. This, however, was severely undermined by a series of regional disputes beginning in 1989. The deaths in April 1989 of two Senegalese farmers, following a disagreement with Mauritania livestock-breeders regarding grazing rights in the border region between the two countries, caused a crisis that fuelled a long-standing ethnic and economic rivalries. This endangered the lives of the nationals of both countries. Mauritania nationals residing in Senegal came under attack by Senegalese nationals and their businesses ransacked. Senegalese nationals in Mauritania suffered a similar fate. It was believed that several hundred people, mostly Senegalese, lost their lives. Relations deteriorated further in the late 1990, when Mauritania authorities accused Senegal of complicity in an alleged attempt to overthrow the Taya government. This accusation was however denied by the Diouf administration. Several attempts at resolving the conflict including diplomatic efforts was unsuccessful until December 1994 when the two countries agreed on new co-operation measures, including efforts to facilitate the free movement of goods and people between the two countries. Senegal also had problems with Guinea-Bissau regarding the sovereignty of a maritime zone believed to contain reserves of petroleum together with valuable fishing grounds. In July 1989, an international arbitration panel – to which the issue had been referred in 1985- judged the waters to be part of Senegalese territory. Not satisfied with the decision, Guinea-Bissau referred the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ ruled on the issue in November 1991that the delimitation of the maritime border, as agreed by the French and the Portugese colonial powers in April 1960, remained valid and thus confirming Senegal’s sovereignty over the disputed zone. Senegal and Guinea-Bissau thus signed a treaty recognising this judgment in February 1993. The dispute between the Senegalese authorities and the MFDC also affected relations with Guinea-Bissau. In March 1985 Diouf visited Guinea-Bissau to discuss joint security issues and apologised for two attacks perpetrated by the Senegalese armed forces on villages in Guinea-Bissau during February.
Senegal also made commitments to ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) towards peacekeeping in the Liberian Civil war in 1991. In 1993, however, Senegal withdrew its 1500 men from the ECOMOG. The reason for this action was based on rumours of dissatisfaction with the conduct of ECOMOG operations but also more to do with domestic security imperatives. Senegal also had good relations with France. Senegal however severed its diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China after restoring its diplomatic relations with Taiwan in January 1996.
On its economy, Senegal retains some of the economic advantages derived from its leading position in the pre-independence French West Africa. Senegal in 1994 had a gross national product (GNP) equivalent to US $600 per head, one of the highest levels in West Africa. It in terms of economic performance, Senegal has been doing comparatively well in the West African sub-region. The World Bank put its total gross domestic product (GDP) in 1993 at $5,770m and real GDP growth in 1995 at 4.5% indicating some improvement in the economy. Its economy is however vulnerable to competition and like other West African countries, dependent on primary products. Fishing, phosphate mining and tourism have taken over from groundnuts and groundnut products as the principal sources of foreign exchange. The economy remains highly dependent on comparatively large inflows of foreign financial assistance.
The politics in Senegal came to a historic moment when the opposition socialist party led by Adoulaye Wade came to power in February 2000 presidential elections.
Outlook
Senegal has come a long way in terms of the practice of democracy. The take over of government through the ballot box, a rare phenomenon in the sub-region, has given impetus to good governance and the consolidation of democratic values in Senegal and the West African sub-region as a whole. Senegal has also made valuable contributions to OUEMOA, a francophone West African monetary group. In the face of all these achievements, the Senegalese political economy still faces challenges despite large inflows of foreign financial assistance. The economy is vulnerable to competition in almost all areas of productivity. Its industrial base, which was comparatively well- developed at independence, is threatened by competing industrial investment in the West African region, particularly Ivory Coast.
Senegal, nevertheless, has lots of prospects for the future in terms of good governance and economic development if freedom of speech and expression and access to the media by all political groupings is sustained in the midst of a volatile economy.
Probably, the most important outlook for Senegal is the way and manner in which President Wade is committed to the success of the New African Initiative (NAI), which in reality is part of his original OMEGA, plan emphasizing education, health, trade and investment.
While there was anticipation that with the Wade electoral victory in February 2000 the war in Casamance would be ended, the democratic dividend that observers expected in ending the war has not yet occurred. However, Senegalese involvement in the peace process in Guinea-Bissau will continue.
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