VZCZCXRO4419
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #1001 2161505
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041505Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2880
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1245
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0404
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON 0890
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS DAKAR 001001 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL AND INR/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS KDEM SG
SUBJECT: PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: ONE EYE 
ON THE DONORS, THE OTHER ON THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 
 
¶1. SUMMARY.  On July 23, Prime Minister Souleymane Ndene Ndiaye 
delivered a general policy speech to a packed National Assembly 
chamber that included diplomats from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, 
Europe, and the US.  A shrewd mixture of candor and gesture 
characterized the speech, as he at least mentioned themes ranging 
from good governance to "the core priority of the government," 
generating youth employment.  The speech was not only a rousing 
affirmation of the PM's faith in his country's future, but an 
attempt to recover in the eyes of the international community the 
country's reputation as a progressive African country, and a shrewd 
gambit for the GOS to rebound from its drubbing in the March 22 
legislative elections in order to set the groundwork for winning the 
2012 presidential elections.  END SUMMARY. 
 
CANDOR AND BOLD AMBITIONS 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. The mood at this "declaration of general policy" that Prime 
Minister Souleymane Ndene Ndiaye delivered to a packed National 
Assembly hall was somber but determined.  Ndene Ndiaye became PM of 
a new government on June 5 after opposition candidates were voted 
into office in large numbers in the March 22 regional and local 
elections.  His mandate is to recreate a voting power base in time 
for the 2012 presidential elections, and to do this, he brought out 
a long list of projects and goals to solve what he admitted were big 
national problems connected to the recent financial crisis: 
unemployment, high prices, and economic stagnation. 
 
¶3. Putting the best face on the reason why his government exists 
("the elections of March 22 showed the vitality of our democracy"), 
he then admitted that the voters had spoken on March 22, that they 
were not happy with the government's handling of the economy, and 
that the government needed to respond to voters' worries.  After 
referring to "ethical principles and good governance," he said that 
the two critical sectors of the population to address were farmers 
and unemployed youth.  This meant creating jobs for unemployed youth 
over the next three years, providing more credit for farmers, and 
improving fishing infrastructure.  Work on the new Blaise Diagne 
airport would begin in 2010.  Roads would improve.  The MCC compact 
that would be signed this year would create 20,000 hectares of 
irrigated land.  He pledged greater cooperation with other Islamic 
countries.  Air Senegal would be reinvented as Air Senegal Teranga. 
There would be fewer power brownouts and blackouts, a very common 
problem in cities, and this would happen with energy efficiency. 
Unemployment would decline with rising tourism, new hotels, and 
group tours.  General public health would rise in the crowded, 
unhealthy flood-prone cites and especially the Dakar suburbs. 
Penalties would become harsher against sex offenders (this in a 
country with severe problems with rape and pedophilia).  85% of the 
population would be inoculated against disease.  90% of children 
would be in school.  By 2015 60% of high school students would be on 
the science and technology track.  There will greater emphasis on 
science and technology and telecommunications at the University of 
Dakar and Gaston Berger University, the two most important 
universities in the country.  He pledged that the judicial branch 
would be independent of the executive and legislative branches, that 
courts will reduce time in considering cases and would be 
transparent. 
 
¶4. However, he stated that although the press should be 
characterized by "pluralism," it should also balance liberty and 
responsibility, a common formula here for a press that should 
restrain its criticism of the President and his policies. 
 
COMMENT:  THREE AUDIENCES 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Karim Wade, President Wade's son and apparently desired heir to 
the Presidency, sat behind the PM, and reviewed the speech and then 
handed it back to the PM in plain view of all before he delivered 
it.  Ndiaye delivered a speech that in effect begins the 2012 
presidential campaign.  At the same time he attempted to appease the 
very broad diplomatic representation in the audience which is 
anxious to hear about institutional reform.  There was much talk of 
modernizing roads, education and agriculture, and transparency and 
good governance.  But the undercurrent was clear:  reestablishing 
the political base lost in the March 22 elections and controlling 
the public political debate by warning the press, very critical of 
President Wade, about the limits to criticism. 
 
SMITH