An Analysis of the 2012 Senegalese Presidential Election (Research Paper Sample)

Senegal: 2012 Presidential Election
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Institution
Senegal: 2012 Presidential Election
Introduction to Elections in Senegal
Senegal merged with the French Sudan on the 4th of April in the year 1959 to create the Mali Federation. This federation gained independence on the 20th of June in 1960. An agreement to transfer power from the colonial government of France to this federation was signed on 4th April 1960. This union however broke down on the 20th of August the same year owing to political difficulties and this led to the formation of two independent republics which were the Republic of Mali, initially known as the French Sudan, and Senegal (Ross, 2008). In September 1960, Leopold Senghor became the first president of Senegal. The Socialist Party was the political vehicle through which Senghor ruled Senegal immediately after independence. This party has ruled Senegal since independence (Koter, 2013).
Senegal is a republic characterized by a strong presidency, an independent judiciary, a week legislature and multi-political parties. Political parties in this country include the Socialist Party, the Democratic Party of Senegal, the Democratic League/Movement for a Labor Party, the Independence and Labor Party and the Democratic and Patriotic Convention. Two bodies are tasked with the responsibility of organizing elections in this state. These are the Ministry of Interior and the Autonomous National Electoral Committee (CENA). Other players involved in elections include the Constitutional Court, the National Audiovisual Regulatory Council (CNRA) and the Court of appeals of Dakar. Former president Abdoulaye Wade had done various attempts to interfere with the constitution including extending the term for a president from five to seven years. However, through a referendum, the citizens of this country restored this term back to five years in 2001. After Wade was reelected for a second term in 2007, he influenced the National Assembly to make a constitutional amendment which restored the term back to seven years. Owing to this, Wade was defeated by president Sall in a runoff in 2012 after which he conceded defeat and stepped down (Koter, 2013).
The Quality of Elections in Senegal
While the Ministry of Interior is charged with the responsibility of issuing identity cards which are used in voting, the voting process is supervised by the Autonomous National Electoral Committee (CENA). Initially, this role was played by National Observatory of Elections, which was eliminated by former president Wade and replaced with CENA. CENA was created by law on the 11th of May in the year 2005. This electoral body has various representative agencies spread across the country’s regions and districts. These agencies assist the central authority in controlling and supervising elections. The manner in which the 12 members making up CENA are chosen contribute to the body’s credibility. They are selected from citizens who have no political affiliations, are independent and of a high moral probity. The selection process is very strict with the president of CENA expected to make consultations with various professional organizations for a period of up to 6 years to be sure that the chosen officers are capable of delivering a credible election. After every three years, a third of the members of CENA are replaced. For these reasons, the electoral body is trustworthy. Moreover, the body documents the challenges encountered after every election and gives proposals on what can be done for better results moving forward (Trans-Saharan Elections Project, 2013).
Also making CENA more independent and immune to political interference is the fact that it is granted legal and financial independence by the law. The body is therefore able to deliver its mandate without being subjected to any pressure from any quarters. A number of incidences which prove the credibility of CENA have been recorded over the years. For instance, in the year 2009, the body’s chairperson by the name Moustapha Toure was notified by the president that he had no confidence in him and required him to take back the mandate given to him. Toure immediately resigned to pave way for investigations and the subsequent appointment of his successor. This move was very much unlike what happens in many African countries where leaders do not leave office even when the public have no trust in them. Political leaders and the civil society in this country have a lot of trust in this body. Further showing that this body conducts elections fairly is the fact that it conducted an election in 2012 in which the incumbent was defeated. In many African countries, sitting presidents very rarely leave office through elections as they have compromised their country’s electoral bodies (Trans-Saharan Elections Project, 2013).
Fraud, vote-buying and malpractice in Elections
The 2012 elections in Senegal were characterized by quite minimal fraud issues. According to the Amnesty International, this low level was attributable to the heavy presence of international observers in the country during the election period. This state of affairs does not however absolutely rule out the possibility that there were incidences of fraud. According to citizens who were interviewed by representatives of the EU this year, the incumbent president tried to influence the outcome of the election through various forms of fraud. He is said to have engaged manpower to go across the country soliciting opinions from citizens regarding who they were planning to vote for. Those who were planning to vote for the opposition were awarded between $4 and $6 to surrender their voter’s cards. By giving out their cards, Wade sought to ensure that these people would not vote. Effectively, the number of opposition votes would be reduced (Burchard, 2015).
Clientelism has been identified by various scholars as a form of malpractice characterizing Senegal’s political system. This form of electoral malpractice involves the buying of the support of weaker clients by influential patrons. Through this, corruption ends up impacting suffrage rights. Political parties award various benefits to voters with the aim of winning their political support. As such, parties here do not compete on the merit of policy reforms alone. The materials inducements given to citizens include food, medicine and other kinds of sustenance. The provision of these inducements means that governments do not endeavor to give social safety nets to all its citizens and this has serious consequences on democratic accountability and responsiveness (Gans‐Morse et al., 2014).
Although there were allegations of voter bribery in the run up to the 2012 presidential elections, they have not been thoroughly investigated and may not be treated with much weight. The fact is, Senegal is the strongest democracy in West Africa. This country competes favorably with other African countries when it comes to the issue of corruption index. Successive regimes have been taking the issue of corruption very seriously. As such, Senegal boasts of high degree of transparency in elections when compared to its neighbors. Moreover, the fact that this country has never witnessed any post-election violence since its independence in 1960 mean that elections are conducted to the satisfaction of most of the people most of the times. Usually, people respond to fraud during elections through violence as they protest the unfair manner in which the elected have won their win (Kuenzi, 2006).
Senegal’s Political Context
Senegal has one of the most stable democracies in Africa. This country, unlike most of its neighbors, has not experienced any form of post-election violence since it gained independence in the year 1960. It has engaged in a continuous process of strengthening its democratic institutions over the years and this has made it a beacon of peace in the midst of a region characterized by political turmoil. According to the World Bank, this country has had three highly peaceful political transitions involving four presidents since it gained independence. These presidents are Leopold Sedar Senghor (1960-1980), Abdou Diouf (1981- 2000), Abdoulaye Wade (2000-2012), and since March 2012, Macky Sall (The World Bank, 2016).
The political system of this country was further strengthened through a referendum which was conducted on the 20th of March in the year 2012. The referendum occasioned a number of democratic achievements including a reduction of the length of a presidential term from seven to five years. Moreover, through the plebiscite, Senegal managed to create a new consultative assembly with the effect of allowing people to contest in all elections as independent candidates. Additionally, through the referendum, the country established the position of an official opposition leader as it was previously non-existent. Other achievements brought about by the triumph of this referendum include the establishment of the intangibility of various constitutional articles such as the republican nature of the state, mode of elections, maximum number of terms for a president and consecutive number of presidential mandates (The World Bank, 2016).
Senegal was characterized by a single party system from the year 1966 to 1974. After this span, the country restored pluralism with the number of allowed political parties being only three. Each of these parties was supposed to represent a particular political current. The requirement was basically codified by a law amending the constitution, which was 76-01 of 19th March 1976. In the year 1978, the constitution was still amended again to allow the existence of four political parties. Finally, on May 6th 1981, Senegal became a multi-party democracy through a law coded 81-17. This l...