Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 
Macky Sall Wins Senegal's Presidential Election, Giving Example of How Opposition Parties Can win

By Hassan El-Najjar

March 26, 2012


Macy Sall won the Senegalese presidential run-off against President Wade, who won the first round. The Sall winning in the run off is a lesson to all opposition parties around the world aspiring to displace old regimes but can't because they are disunited.

All Senegalese opposition groups and parties united against the veteran president and voted for Sall. Without that unity, Wade would have won again.

This is an important lesson for the many many third parties in the US, who have in vain tried to win any seats in Congress, let alone winning positions in the local, state, and federal government levels.

The two parties, which have alternated ruling the US, and have nearly destroyed it economically and financially, due to their globalist-imperialist policies, can only be displaced by the same way opposition parties won in Senegal.

The first step is a call for a conference of all US third parties to convene in a conference, to reach a common platform that put America first, then America-First candidates can win against the candidates of the globalist agenda of the two parties.


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Macky Sall trounces Wade in Senegal's presidential poll

By News Wires (text)

France 24, 26/03/2012

AP -

Senegal’s 85-year-old President Abdoulaye Wade has conceded defeat to his former prime minister Macky Sall in Sunday’s run-off vote, comforting the country’s democratic credentials and allaying fears he might try to cling on to power.

President Abdoulaye Wade conceded defeat to his former protege Macky Sall late Sunday, congratulating him several hours after polls closed when preliminary results showed the opposition candidate had trounced the 85-year-old incumbent.

Wade called Sall around 9:30 p.m. (2130 GMT) Sunday to congratulate him on his victory, state television reported. The move alleviated fears that Wade would attempt to stay in office after 12 years or would challenge the runoff results.

Even before Wade conceded, Sall’s supporters began celebrating in the streets of the capital, singing and marching through downtown Dakar. Some danced on the roofs of moving vehicles, and one man did a cartwheel amid the traffic near the Place de l’Independance.

Sarkozy hails Senegal election result

French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed Monday the results of the presidential election in Senegal, which saw opposition candidate Macky Sall defeat incumbent Abdoulaye Wade. The outcome "is very good news for Africa in general and for Senegal in particular," Sarkozy told France Info radio, describing the former French colony as a "model of democracy". (AFP)

Wade, who first took office in 2000, has seen his popularity suffer amid soaring costs of living and unemployment in this country on Africa’s western coast.

His decision to seek re-election had infuriated many voters. Violent protests left at least six people dead, and analysts had warned of further unrest if Wade won.

Marieme Ousmane Wele, 55, said she had voted for Sall because the rising prices of basic goods have made her life increasingly difficult.

“I sell cereal made from corn but the price of corn has really gone up. Now, I don’t have many customers and it’s becoming difficult to feed my own family,” she said, as men sat nearby on plastic lawn chairs in the sand listening to news about the election on portable radios.

On the streets of Senegal’s capital, images of Wade on campaign posters had their eyes scratched out. And his convoy was hit by rocks in the final days of the runoff campaign.

Sall, 50, is a geologist by training who worked for years under Wade. The two, though, had a subsequent falling out and Wade has been describing Sall as an apprentice who has not yet taken in “the lessons of his mentor.”

Wade’s image began to suffer after he started giving an increasing share of power to his son Karim, who was derisively called “the Minister of the Sky and the Earth” after he was handed control of multiple ministries including infrastructure and energy.

Profile of Macky Sall

The president also tried to rush a law through parliament that would have reduced the percentage a candidate needed to win on the first round from 50 to around 25 percent. He was forced to scrap the proposal after riots immobilized the capital.

Dr. Johny Assane said he voted for Wade in 2000 but has since become disillusioned. While he says he is financially secure, he has seen how others have failed to benefit from Wade’s leadership.

“The situation of my patients who come to get medicine in my office has really deteriorated,” he said. “Everywhere there are children whose parents are finding it difficult to pay for their treatment and that shows me that the country is not working.

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