Idrissa Seck défie Ousmane Sonko pour la place de leader de l’opposition au Sénégal. Seck, qui souhaite être le porte-drapeau de l’opposition lors des élections présidentielles de 2024, cherche à disqualifier Sonko en le dépeignant comme immature et irresponsable. Bien que Seck ménage pour l’instant le président Macky Sall, l’urgence est de barrer la route à Sonko afin de devenir le principal candidat de l’opposition. Les relations entre Seck et Sonko ont toujours été exécrables, mais les acteurs politiques au Sénégal ont souvent réussi à trouver des plages de discussion et de dialogue pour traverser les moments difficiles. En 2024, le Sénégal pourrait voir émerger un nouveau leadership capable de servir de réceptacle aux différents courants de l’opposition.

Ousmane Sonko, previously engaged in a mortal combat against Macky Sall, has found himself confronted with a new challenger, Idrissa Seck. Seck is intent on disqualifying Sonko and becoming the new leader of the opposition. Seck has targeted Sonko with caustic attacks and criticisms, and for the moment, refrained from targeting Macky Sall. He hopes to become the opposition’s most credible figure by taking down Sonko. However, politics in Senegal are unpredictable, and it is not impossible for former enemies to become allies. For instance, Aminata Touré, who had previously expressed disdain for Ousmane Sonko and other opposition figures, has now teamed up with them.

The author recounts a conversation with Sonko from 2013, in which Sonko mentioned his desire to enter politics. The author suggested Sonko join the Parti Rewmi of Idrissa Seck, but Sonko deemed him too arrogant. Sonko went on to create his own political party, Pastef. Seck and Sonko have a bitter history, and once almost came to blows at a meeting of the opposition coalition, Manko Wattù Sénégal, in 2017.

The author also notes that previous political leaders were able to put aside their differences and collaborate in order to solve pressing political issues. Abdoulaye Wade, for example, collaborated with various political figures like Idrissa Seck and Ousmane Ngom in order to solve issues that arose from the elections of 1988 and the killings of police officers in 1994.

Idrissa Seck has previously collaborated with President Macky Sall, but has now left him to become the leader of the opposition. However, it is not inconceivable for Seck to team up with Sall again in the future. The author questions whether the country would benefit from such political machinations, and whether a new opposition leader, like Khalifa Ababacar Sall or Karim Wade, could emerge. The author also raises the question of a new dialogue national, which has been proposed by President Sall, to discuss issues like eligibility of potential candidates and the role of citizen sponsorship for the presidential election. The opposition has not responded to the proposal, and it remains to be seen how they will react.