March 10, 2012 – As Senegal prepares for a run-off presidential election on March 25, the 12 candidates who lost in round 1 have unified with the June 23 movement (M23) for a major rally on March 11 against the current president Abdoulaye Wade. The M23 was formed with militant protests in 2011 in response to sharp political and economic attacks on the working class by Wade and the ruling class (see CHALLENGE-DESAFIO, August 17, 2011, p. 6).
Wade is running for an unprecedented third term. In round 1 of the election, Wade won 35% of the vote and Macky Sall won 27%, and so they will compete head to head in round 2.
The March 11 rally in Dakar is aimed solely at supporting Sall against Wade, and represents a step backward for the movement against capitalism in Senegal. Sall is a former prime minister in Wade's cabinet (he resigned in 2008) and has a long history of involvement with the country's corrupt ruling class. In a second round of voting, those who consider themselves leftists and revolutionaries are making the same mistake they made 12 years ago when they uncritically joined forces with Wade and paved the way for his victory over then-President Abdou Diouf. They are blindly coalescing behind Sall, who has the same neo-liberal agenda as Wade, simply to oust the incumbent president. Moustapha Niasse, who came in third in the first round of voting with support from many of the organizations that attended the Youth Summit, has already called for support of Sall and against Wade, saying "Stopping Wade is an imperative, it is a necessity, this is a must." Nonsense. What is a “must” is the building of revolutionary communist consciousness and an orientation towards revolution not elections. As the PLP strengthens its relations with local forces, we hope a branch of PLP will emerge that can provide a vision of a communist future for Senegal and help bring about true liberation of the masses.
Masses of Senegalese turned out to vote in the first round. At the same time, over 40 Senegalese in the Washington, DC area protested at the Senegalese embassy and marched to the White House to let people in the U.S. know the extent of fraud and deception going on with this election. Six weeks ago, there were huge demonstrations in Dakar and other cities protesting the “Constitutional” Court’s unconstitutional January 27 decision that 85-year old Abdoulaye Wade could run for a third six-year term. As protests erupted around the country, police attacked with tear gas and clubs, killing 10, maiming more, and arresting many others, including friends of PLP who were part of the Summit organized by the League of Revolutionary Pan Africanists in June 2011 in which PLP participated (see CHALLENGE-DESAFIO, July 11, 2011, p. 8). Last month’s demonstrations were similar to uprisings last summer when Wade announced that he would run again and tried to force through a new law that would allow him to install his son as vice-president and heir-apparent (see CHALLENGE-DESAFIO, August 17, 2011 p. 6). During the first round of the election on February 26, hundreds of Wade’s neighbors directly confronted him as he voted for himself. They demanded that he step down. How can such intense anger at the president lead to a communist future for Senegal?
Background: Mass Outrage
The masses are furious with Wade and his neocolonial party that came to power in 2000 by ousting the sell-out “Socialist” Party President Abdou Diouf that had proven to be a corrupt and loyal lackey of the French imperialists. But Wade’s regime has followed the same path.
Wade stole over 1.6 trillion CFA francs (about $3.4 billion) from the government treasury. He spent $400 million for a private jet with a state-of-the-art hospital staffed with doctors and nurses from France. He built a statue (African Renaissance Statue) costing tens of millions of dollars which the Senegalese masses opposed, asserting that it is just an egotistical monument to himself. This outrageous amount could have been used to improve the living conditions of citizens instead of this statue that represents nothing to the Senegalese people.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Jobs are few, and those that exist provide no rights for workers. The government backs the private bosses 100%.
During the 12 years Wade has been in office, Senegal has suffered from neglect while the parasites in power feed off the masses. Dakar, the capital, is a “mobile market” where almost everyone is desperately trying to sell something in order to feed a family, from Kleenex to soccer balls to phone cards. Child beggars are everywhere. The cost of living has risen and wages to workers have not been adjusted to inflation as many industries still pay the same wages they paid before Wade was elected. Senegal’s place on the United Nations Human Development Index (#155 out of 187) that measures living standards, life expectancy, literacy and education remains virtually equal to that of Haiti (.459 versus .454 -- the U.S. score is .910 by comparison). Communist revolution is the only solution to such desperate poverty, corruption and exploitation!
The Opposition to Wade
The opposition parties in Senegal were split between self-described socialist and democratic parties, with several smaller self-described communist, pan-Africanist, and revolutionary parties. The Bennoo (“to form as one”) coalition tried to unify the opposition but then split. Both of their programs stressed “public resources for the people”. Such a vague program generally fell flat with the energetic youth demanding greater change.
Macky Sall, Cheikh Tidiane Gadgio, Idrissa Seck, and Ibrahima Fall, ex-members of Wade’s cabinet, also contested for the presidency. They had exposed Wade’s government by revealing closely held secrets such as the murder of officials who opposed Wade on issues and the theft of funds from the treasury. These candidates all claimed that they wanted to limit Senegalese dependence on the imperialist nations and have called themselves “true pan Africanists” unlike Wade. Such opportunists! They could not be taken seriously given their longstanding complicity in the regime.
Youssou N’Dour, the most popular singer in Senegal, formed a movement Fekke ma ci bole (“Part of it because I’m alive”) and announced his candidacy, declaring that he would provide "food for all, better health and education and electricity . . . by scrapping the expensive government's lifestyle and spending”. He also said "I can use my huge contact book to sign new international deals that will bring aid and investments to Senegal." N’Dour’s program promised vague improvements for the masses and continued capitalism and foreign exploitation. Not surprisingly, like the ex-members of Wade’s cabinet, he was once quite close to Wade until they had a falling out. Again, not a good choice for the working class! In any event, the same (Un)Constitutional Court that ruled that Wade could run for a 3rd term decided that N’Dour could not be a candidate. Who paid off the Constitutional Court?
Meanwhile, a mass hip-hop youth movement Y’en a Marre (We’re fed up!) continues to mobilize youth against unemployment regardless of the elections, and has kept street demonstrations powerful with their slogan, Enough is Enough. Wade was so worried about them that he printed up and distributed hundreds of Y’en a Marre t-shirts in an effort to co-opt them. But Y’en a Marre rejected this action and declared that no member of their movement should ever wear such a t-shirt! Y’en a Marre is currently preparing independent actions around the second stage of the elections.
Several of the organizations whose members participated in the Youth Summit initially joined the Bennoo coalition. None has advanced a public call for communist revolution, limiting their programs to opposition to neoliberalism, neocolonialism, and imperialism and staying within the electoral path, mainly unifying around the demand that Wade Must Go! Some have argued that, once Wade is replaced, the next stage is to elect progressive legislators.
This approach is part of an incorrect, multi-stage analysis of the path towards communism and true liberation. This losing strategy argues that first, we must fight for national independence from imperialism, often through elections, while never advancing the long-term goals of communism in any public way. This stage, theoretically, is to be followed by gradual steps towards socialism with the government nationalizing and expanding industries while maintaining the wage system and inequalities. Much later, perhaps, the society can move towards communism, with the abolition of the wage system and a thoroughgoing egalitarian structure of society.
The world has witnessed far too many failures as honest revolutionaries have tried to follow this strategy. Capitalist elements always take advantage of the limited ideological development that such a strategy stimulates in the mass movements. Capitalism returns. This multi-stage strategy underestimates the potential of the masses to learn, struggle, and live on the basis of communist principles, and instead hides these ideas “for later”. Later never seems to come! Communist ideas and practices must be struggled for now!
If the illegitimate Wade tries to claim victory after round 2, it will only be on the basis of naked fraud, and the struggle may sharpen up with expanded Occupy-style movements and broad protests. But without a clear roadmap to communist revolution, such actions will fall short of true liberation of the Senegalese masses. Hopefully, as our friends in Senegal learn from their experience and deepen their involvement in the growing mass movement, they will move towards a militant and openly communist approach to the struggle.
Wade stole over 1.6 trillion CFA francs (about $3.4 billion) from the government treasury. He spent $400 million for a private jet with a state-of-the-art hospital staffed with doctors and nurses from France. He built an African Renaissance Statue costing $40 million which the Senegalese masses opposed as an egotistical monument to himself. This outrageous amount could have helped improve workers’ living conditions.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Jobs are few. Those that exist have no workers’ rights. The government backs private bosses 100%.
During Wade’s 12-year reign, Senegal has suffered from neglect while the parasites in power feed off the masses. Dakar, the capital, is a “mobile market” where, to feed a family, almost everyone is desperately trying to sell something, from Kleenex to soccer balls to phone cards. Child beggars abound. Workers’ wages have not kept pace with the rising cost of living.
Many industries still pay the same wages paid prior to Wade’s election. Senegal’s place on the United Nations Human Development Index, that measures living standards, life expectancy, literacy and education, is virtually equal to Haiti’s (.459 versus .454; the U.S. score is .910 by comparison). Communist revolution is the only solution to such desperate poverty, corruption and exploitation.
The Opposition to Wade
Fourteen candidates ran in the first round of today’s election. The main opposition parties were split between self-described socialist and democratic parties, plus self-described communist, pan-Africanist and revolutionary parties. The Benno (“to form as one”) coalition tried to unify the opposition but then split. Both programs stressed “public resources for the people,” vague platforms which fell flat with the energetic youth demanding greater change.
Four ex-members of Wade’s cabinet also ran. They had exposed Wade’s government by revealing closely held secrets such as the murder of officials who opposed Wade on issues and the theft of treasury funds. These candidates all claimed they wanted to limit Senegalese dependence on the imperialist nations and have called themselves “true pan-Africanists,” unlike Wade. Such opportunists couldn’t be taken seriously, given their longstanding complicity in Wade’s regime.
Youssou N’Dour, Senegal’s most popular singer, also announced his candidacy, promising “food for all, better health and education and electricity…by scrapping the expensive government’s lifestyle and spending” and use of his “huge contact book to sign new international deals that will bring aid and investments to Senegal.” These are vague improvements for the masses and continued capitalism and foreign exploitation. Once quite close to Wade until a falling out, his candidacy was voided by the same Court that allowed Wade to run for a third term.
Youth Movement
Meanwhile, a mass hip-hop youth movement, Y’en a Marre (We’re fed up!), continues to mobilize youth against unemployment regardless of the elections, and has maintained powerful street demonstrations with its slogan, “Enough is Enough.” Wade was so worried about them that he distributed hundreds of Y’en a Marre t-shirts attempting to co-opt them. But they rejected this ploy, declaring that no member of their movement should ever wear such a t-shirt!
Several organizations whose members participated in the Youth Summit initially joined the Benno coalition. None has advanced a public call for communist revolution, limiting their programs to opposition to neoliberalism, neocolonialism and imperialism, sticking with elections, uniting around “Wade Must Go!”
‘Staged’ Revolution a Losing Strategy
This approach is part of an incorrect, multi-stage analysis of the path towards true liberation through communism. This losing strategy argues to first fight for national independence from imperialism, often through elections, while never publicly advancing the long-term goals of communism. This stage, theoretically, then follows with gradual steps towards socialism with the government nationalizing industries while maintaining the wage system and inequalities. Much later, society can move to communism, abolition of the wage system and an egalitarian society.
Such a strategy has always failed; capitalist elements always take advantage of the limited ideological development in the mass movements led by such a strategy, and they return to market capitalism. It underestimates the masses’ potential to learn, struggle and live on the basis of communist principles, and instead hides these ideas “for later.” Later never comes.
As the illegitimate Wade claims victory, the struggle may sharpen with expanded Occupy-style movements, broad protests and possible civil war. But without a clear roadmap to communist revolution, such actions will fall short of true emancipation of the Senegalese masses.
Hopefully, as our friends in Senegal learn from their experience, deepen their involvement in the growing mass movement, strengthen their relations with PLP, and learn from the masses’ increasing militancy, a PLP organization will emerge. This can provide a vision of a communist future for Senegal and with it true liberation of the masses!
February 28 — Preliminary election results show Macky Sall, founder of the political party L’Alliance pour la république (APR), following closely behind Wade with 25.11% of votes against Wade’s 26.46%. Sall, too, was a former prime minister in Wade’s cabinet (resigning in 2008) and was long involved with the country’s corrupt ruling class.
In a second round of voting, will those on the left make the same mistake they made 12 years ago when they uncritically backed Wade and enabled his victory over then-President Abdou Diouf? Will they likely, and blindly coalesce behind Sall, having the same neo-liberal agenda as Wade, simply to oust the incumbent president?
Moustapha Niasse, third in the first round of voting, supported by many organizations that attended the Youth Summit, has already declared for Sall and against Wade. He says “Stopping Wade is an imperative, it is a necessity, this is a must.” Nonsense. What is a “must” is the building of revolutionary communist consciousness, an orientation towards revolution not elections, and building a PLP branch in Senegal to help chart the path towards emancipation of the working class.