Much of the opposition refusing to be coopted by Diouf's ruling party has coalesced behind veteran oppositionist Abdoulaye Wade who has coveted the presidency for two decades...
For now the usually fractious opposition parties and the leading candidates Mustapha Niasse Djibo Kâ and Abdoulaye Wade have formed the Front pour la Régularité et la Transparence des Elections to press for a clean vote...
Vol 41 No 1 |
- WEST AFRICA
Eternal opponent Abdoulaye Wade (74) knows this is his last chance: his partisan say they'll stop at nothing if ruling Parti Socialiste fraud skews the polls...
The campaign will be hard fought and among those preparing to challenge President Abdou Diouf are the old bruiser Abdoulaye Wade (freshened up after a long break in Versailles with his French wife Viviane) who is Secretary General of the Parti Démocratique Sénégalais and two rebels from the ruling Parti Socialiste: Djibo Kâ of the Union pour le Renouveau Démocratique and former Foreign Minister Moustapha Niasse of the Alliance des Forces du Progrès one of Senegal's more charismatic politicians...
The main opposition party Abdoulaye Wade's Parti Démocratique Sénégalais (PDS) wants the immediate withdrawal of the troops saying they have been sidelined by the 27 July ceasefire brokered by the world's six other Portuguesespeaking states thereby adding political failure to the military one...
The opposition parties' leading figure is still Maître Abdoulaye Wade of the PDS aged 71...
His nearest rival Abdoulaye Wade of the Parti Démocratique Sénégalais is seven years older; he rails against Diouf's rule then takes a job in his government...