Still reeling from a whirlwind campaign, young people in Senegal threw jackets over their worn election T-shirts on Tuesday to attend the inauguration of an opposition politician who went from political prisoner to president in less than three weeks.
Their new leader, Bassirou Diomaye Faye – at the age of 44, Africa’s youngest elected president – took the oath of office, promising “systemic change” and paying tribute to the many people killed, injured and imprisoned in the years leading up to the West African War. the country’s election.
“I will always remember the heavy sacrifices made to never let you down,” Mr Faye said, addressing a large audience filled with African heads of state and dignitaries at the front. From the back, hundreds of supporters of Faye and his powerful backer, opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, shouted with joy.
It was the culmination of months of drama after former president Macky Sall canceled the election with just weeks to go, citing irregularities at the Constitutional Council – and then, under intense domestic and international pressure, had agreed to keep them anyway.
Mr Sall’s hand-picked candidate was convincingly defeated by Mr Faye, a tax inspector and political newcomer who won more than 54 percent of the vote despite having only 10 days of freedom to campaign. He had been imprisoned on charges of defamation and contempt of court, and was awaiting trial when Mr. Sall announced the passage of an amnesty law and was released.
“You are the undisputed and dazzling choice of Senegal,” said Constitutional Council President Mamadou Badio Camara, who presided over the inauguration.
But Mr Faye was not the only politician who had effectively supported Senegal. Mr Sonko, the man whose support helped get Mr Faye elected, sat in the second row.
“Thank you, Sonko, thank you,” his supporters shouted at key moments during Tuesday’s ceremony.
Mr Sonko, until now Senegal’s main opposition leader, was also in prison until three weeks ago after being barred from running for president himself following convictions on charges of defamation and “corruption of the youth” in connection with allegations from a young massage parlor employee.
When he was released, he immediately campaigned with Mr. Faye, telling his supporters that a vote for Mr. Faye was a vote for him.
Mr Faye made no mention of Mr Sonko, who was inconspicuous in a black hat and tunic, in his speech. But Mr. Sonko was a constant presence. He spoke to African presidents waiting for the ceremony to begin in an anteroom of a conference center in Diamniadio, a new city still under construction and a pet project of Mr. Sall.
Then, in the hangar-like room where Mr. Faye would take his oath, Mr. Sonko took his seat in the second row, just behind the two first ladies — wives of the polygamous new president. And Mr. Sonko got the biggest cheer of the day every time his face appeared on the big screens at the front of the room.
There were also many cheers for Guinea’s military president, and for the representatives of Mali and Burkina Faso, three West African countries whose governments were overthrown by coups in recent years and are now ruled by juntas. The rhetoric of those juntas – aimed at the sovereignty of France, the former colonial power that many West Africans say still meddles in their affairs – mirrors that of Mr Sonko and Mr Faye.
“The youth of Senegal are connecting with the youth of those countries, on these issues of sovereignty,” the president’s uncle, also named Diomaye Faye, said in an interview on Tuesday.
Mr Faye and Mr Sonko have promised to drop or change the terms of the CFA, the regional currency backed by France, and renegotiating Senegal’s contracts with foreign-owned companies to extract newly discovered oil and gas.
In his speech, Mr. Faye emphasized that Senegal would remain open to relations with other countries that “respect our sovereignty, are consistent with the aspirations of our people, and in a mutually winning partnership.”
After the swearing-in, a motorcade took him to the presidential palace. Last week, Mr. Sall had welcomed him and Mr. Sonko, his former arch-rivals, to a stiff but determined friendly meeting of which official photos were later given to the media.
On Tuesday, Mr. Sall, a two-term president who served for 12 years, once again welcomed Mr. Faye, who this time arrived with a presidential guard.
After chatting for a while and handing over the important documents, Mr. Sall got into a Toyota, drove out of the palace gates and left for good.