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Viewing cable 09DAKAR449, Senegal: WADE'S ECLECTIC NATIONAL DAY SPEECH

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09DAKAR449 2009-04-07 16:12 2011-08-24 16:30 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Dakar
VZCZCXRO1794
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #0449 0971612
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071612Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2200
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS DAKAR 000449 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL AND INR/AA 
PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS KDEM ECON SG
SUBJECT: Senegal: WADE'S ECLECTIC NATIONAL DAY SPEECH 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On April 4, Senegal celebrated the 49th 
anniversary of its independence with a grandiose military and 
civilian parade in Dakar.  In his message, President Abdoulaye Wade 
commented on the March 22 local elections, congratulating the 
opposition by conceding defeat and calling the loss of major cities, 
including the capital Dakar, "a breakthrough by the opposition." 
Wade declared he had heard the voters' call for "better governance 
and the need to satisfy people's basic requirements."  However, 
barbs at the opposition and his floating the idea of a vice 
presidency shows that he is still too focused on his succession and 
politics rather than resolving social problems.   End Summary. 
 
I heard you-sort-of 
------------------- 
 
2. (SBU)  Commenting on the March 22 local elections the President 
stated, "Fellow countrymen, I would like to say that I fully 
understood your message, the need for real change in governance and 
to satisfy your basic demands."  However, Wade did not unveil any 
good governance initiatives but instead enumerated a plethora of 
fanciful economic projects.  In his typical pie in the sky rhetoric, 
he promised young people jobs through the creation of a truck 
assembly line and the exploitation of gold mines in Eastern Senegal 
and the country's phosphate reserves, estimated at one billion tons. 
 He also promised to turn the country's peat deposits into an energy 
source to replace charcoal for cooking.  Furthermore, he predicted a 
"bright, if not illuminated future" for Senegal with the creation of 
a low energy bulb factory that will produce 3.5 million bulbs a 
year; a wind energy farm near Saint Louis; a solar energy plant in 
Ziguinchor, and a power plant in Ross Bethio fuelled by an invading 
species of plant growing in the Senegal River. 
 
One more constitutional amendment 
--------------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU)   Indicating that he wants to reinforce the role of women 
in the government, Wade, as a trial balloon, floated the idea of 
giving the choice to women to occupy the post of Prime Minister or 
that of Vice President of the Republic.  The problem is that Senegal 
has no vice presidency and its creation would require yet another 
constitutional amendment.  There is speculation that this ploy is 
designed to bring back former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck who would 
be tasked with reorganizing Wade's fraying Democratic Party of 
Senegal (PDS) party and re-energizing his cabinet. 
 
Wade missed the boat 
-------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) Reacting to President Wade's message, Abdoulaye Bathily, 
one of the leading figures of the opposition, said "Wade missed the 
boat."  His colleague Ousmane Tanor Dieng, the leader of the 
Socialist Party, added, "Wade just doesn't get it."  Indeed, Wade is 
still trying to divide the opposition by reiterating his offer that 
they appoint a single leader who will be his interlocutor in a 
political dialogue and whose status is enshrined in the 
Constitution.  Wade then attacked the opposition, after 
congratulating them, by exhorting them to be transparent in their 
management or face punishment from the central government. 
 
France is back 
-------------- 
 
5. (SBU)   In an unprecedented move, French soldiers stationed in 
Dakar took part in the celebration and paraded with Senegalese 
troops, drawing lots of media attention.  On several occasions the 
President thanked France for this gesture, a great contrast to 
Wade's first few years in power when his relationship with France 
was rather poor.  Going even further, he invited France and the 
European Union to send experts to audit Senegal's voter registration 
list and asked them to form an early warning committee to prevent 
any quarrels as to the viability of the list for the 2012 
presidential election. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
6.  (SBU)   Wade's message to the nation was unfortunately a 
rehashing of old themes, using lofty rhetoric to sell the people a 
used bill of goods.  In the past election the Senegalese people 
clearly expressed their frustration with Wade's (mis)rule, which is 
why so many people voted to try something different in the hopes 
that the new incumbents might improve their standard of living. 
Wade's address shows that he has yet to digest his party's defeat 
and even though he attempted some magnanimity by congratulating the 
opposition, his speech was filled with rosy dreams and was overtly 
political in tone.  An eagerly expected cabinet reshuffle in the 
near future will probably shed more light on Wade's real response to 
the vote of no confidence expressed by the Senegalese on March 22. 
 
Bernicat