Cablegate: National Assembly Approves Constitutional

VZCZCXRO5158
PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #3184 3571353
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231353Z DEC 05
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3739
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS DAKAR 003184

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL/PHD AND INR/AA
NSC FOR AF SENIOR DIRECTOR COURVILLE AND DIRECTOR SWAYNE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM SG
SUBJECT: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY APPROVES CONSTITUTIONAL
AMENDMENT EXTENDING TERM UNTIL FEBRUARY 2007

1. (U) SUMMARY: On December 16, Senegal,s National Assembly
passed a provisional constitutional amendment, extending
deputies, terms in office from June 2006 until February
2007. President Abdoulaye Wade, whose goal was to delay
legislative elections in order to couple them with the
presidential elections, proposed the change. Most opposition
parties boycotted the vote and organized a major political
rally to denounce the law. They fear this may be one of
several strategic moves to alter the Constitution and ensure
Wade,s reelection, as well as his party,s longevity in
power. END SUMMARY.

A MECHANICAL MAJORITY
---------------------
2. (SBU) The temporary amendment suspends the applicability
of Article 60 of the Senegalese paves the legal pathway for
President Wade to couple legislative and presidential
elections in February/March 2007. The coupling of the
elections, which was first broached in a public speech by
Wade in August, would reportedly free up funds that could be
used to assist victims of devastating floods that hit many
Senegalese communities earlier this year. After the
elections, the amendment becomes null and void. A majority
of 72 deputies (3/5ths of the Assembly) was required to pass
the law, but the ruling Democratic Party of Senegal (PDS) and
its coalition partners secured 82 votes. Even PDS deputies
who are in open rebellion against Wade voted in favor of the
law for reasons of personal interest. Within the last year,
President Wade has offered substantial financial and in-kind
benefits to deputies. No doubt desire to retain these
benefits played some role in the vote.

AND AN UNCIVIL OPPOSITION
-------------------------
3. (U) The day after the vote, two dozen opposition parties
organized a rally to condemn the amendment and call for an
end to Wade,s regime. According to police sources, 25,000
people gathered to make their voices heard. For their part,
opposition sources claimed that over 100,000 supporters
turned out. They made it clear that, from this juncture
onward, they will be more confrontational with the PDS. One
opposition leader told Embassy staff that the only language
Wade understands is &violence.8 Ironically, prior to the
opposition gathering, the GOS intervened to stop PDS radicals
from staging a counter-demonstration. Ousmane Tanor Dieng,
leader of the Socialist Party (PS), the main opposition
party, broke from his characteristically moderate stance and
told the press: &The Government will be responsible for
electoral unrest that is likely to occur. They have put the
country in legal insecurity." Dieng also indicated that they
will formulate a request to the Constitutional Court to
declare the new amendment unconstitutional. However, it was
Talla Sylla who really energized the opposition rally.

COMMENT
-------
4. (SBU) Many Senegalese hoped that the &alternance,8 the
peaceful change of regime in 2000, would mark the beginning
of an era of institutional stability and strengthen the
country,s democratic tradition. However, recent tinkering
with the Constitution, together with frequent government
reshuffles, point to seeds of instability buried within the
clientele system. The extension of the national assembly,s
mandate and the possible reinstatement of the Senate after
its elimination in 2001 seem to be part of a set of reforms
that will provide the PDS with the means to follow the
example of the PS, which had managed to hold onto power for
40 years before being unseated by Wade,s coalition. END
COMMENT.
JACKSON

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