"What we are experiencing today in Senegal goes beyond the limits of what is tolerable" (A former member of parliament)

“The Republic is not a cake. The Senegalese political landscape has recently been offering a spectacle of striking moral acrobatics. Since the theatrical dismissal of Ousmane Sonko and his inner circle of ministers, Pastef's theorists have been trying to impose on public opinion a binary narrative as grotesque as it is fallacious: on one side, the “traitors” who agreed to remain in the government, while celebrating as “heroes” their Directors General and Chairmen of the Board who desperately cling to their privileges.” This observation comes from a former member of parliament, Maïmouna Sène, a member of the Alliance for the Republic.

In a statement entitled "My Right to the Truth About the Pastef Deception," she argues that "this double standard is an insult to the intelligence of the Senegalese people." For her, "this selective break is a moral sham." She also emphasizes: "If the break were a matter of principles and dignity, it would be total. It would apply from top to bottom." In reality, the former parliamentarian observes, "we are facing a cynical division of roles: the leader resigns to wash his hands of the empty record and play the victim in front of the voters, while his lieutenants remain in positions of power to siphon off state funds and finance their future electoral war machine."

What most outrages Maïmouna Sène, she says, is "the argument shamelessly brandished by the party's supporters to justify keeping their officials in leadership positions."

general, which is, in my view, a very serious admission of guilt: they would have to stay to "recruit" and "secure" as many activists as possible before leaving." It also raises the question: since when have public companies and national agencies become temporary employment agencies or solidarity funds for the activists of a particular clan?

According to her, "this argument is not an expression of loyalty, it is a blatant admission of state nepotism that these same people claimed to be fighting." She added, "The height of cynicism has just been reached with the dramatic move by the vice-presidents of the National Assembly, who have just announced their simultaneous resignations."

Ms. Sène believes that behind the polite wording of their press releases, the political reality is glaringly obvious to every Senegalese citizen: yesterday's pawns are being pushed out to make room for the newly disaffected, to distribute the spoils of the republican pie to those demanding their reward. For her, this short-sighted management demonstrates the extent to which these leaders disregard the solemnity of the responsibilities of the state.

The former MP stated: "One does not resign from a strategic position in the Bureau of the National Assembly for mere 'political expediency' within a party; one remains there to serve the Nation. Treating sovereign functions as interchangeable stepping stones is blatant proof of a total absence of a culture of the State and a flagrant lack of respect for our institutions."

He continued: “Enough is enough. What we are experiencing today in Senegal goes beyond the limits of what is tolerable. From the Speaker's chair in the National Assembly to the leadership of our public institutions, Pastef is dropping the masks and revealing its true face: that of a clan for whom the Republic is no longer a sanctuary to be served, but a cake to be divided.”

As a member of the Republican opposition, Ms. Sène emphasizes "the duty to call things by their name: we are not facing an act of resistance, but an attempt to plunder and colonize the state apparatus. A country cannot be built on nepotism, coercion, and contempt for the law. Senegal belongs to all Senegalese, not to a clan that confuses the national interest with its career advancement." She says she is waging this battle for "the dignity of our institutions and public transparency without ever backing down," refusing to be "fooled by this charade," and reminding everyone that "Senegal is no one's property title."