Being known as one of the more stable democracies in Africa, with a ranking of 10th in regards to the democratic index for African countries in 2022, Senegal has had a long standing history of peaceful democratic transition. This, however, changed in February of 2024. Just weeks before the scheduled presidential election, incumbent president Macky Sall attempted to delay the election, resulting in large scale protests and ultimately a constitutional crisis. With the definition of democratic erosion being the slow, step by step undermining of democracy by elected leaders from within, Sall’s own actions in regards to authoritative action is what led to the democratic demise of the nation.
In 2024, incumbent president Macky Sall became ineligible to run for a third term as president. On the 3rd of February, a decree enforced by Sall stated that the election would be indefinitely postponed, and finally delayed by the National Assembly until the 15th of December. The Senegalese Constitutional Council announced that this postponement should be overturned with the new election date set for the 24th of March 2024.
A part of the definition of democratic erosion includes the premiership of elected officials and politicians who act using excessive power, allowing them to erode democracy from within through authoritative measures. This was clearly evident in the case of Sall with his attempt to take advantage of the political situation. In Levitsky and Ziblatt’s ‘How Democracies Die’, the actions of populist outsiders and elites as gatekeepers are detailed as causing this backsliding. Sall’s attempt to delay the election under the disguise of alleged cases of corruption against judges, which he argued would threaten the credibility of the election if it were to take place. His justification proves how elected leaders are able to exploit their power as well as loopholes in the institution to gradually dissolve democratic principles.
Additionally, Sall’s actions also demonstrate Bermeo’s concept of executive aggrandizement. Executive aggrandizement can be defined as an elected leader expanding their power beyond the realm of the checks and balances presented by the judiciary and legislature. Through unilaterally choosing to push the election back 10 months, to December of 2024, regardless of the fact that his constitutional term would end on the 2nd of April 2024, Sall displayed how authoritative figures are able to undermine democratic institutions and processes in an attempt to amplify and enhance their position and status and gain greater power.
The backsliding of Senegal’s democracy can also be analyzed through the lens of Linz and Stepan’s theory about democratic consolidation. If democratic norms are able to be overridden by the executive, and if public protest and retaliation is required in order to reestablish constitutional order, a complete state of democracy has not been reached. The severe public reaction to convictions of corruption against the opposition leader in 2023 clearly proves that the state of Senegal’s democracy was not fully established. After convictions of corrupting young people, eventually leading to arrest, Ousmane Sonko’s position in the upcoming 2024 election was jeopardized. Consequently, Senegal broke out in protest, lasting from the 1st of June 2023 to the 2nd of April 2024. These protests resulted in 23 deaths and around 500 arrests. Aside from the physical destruction, these protests also contributed to the government taking greater anti-democratic measures including blocking forms of social media including WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. By cracking down on the public’s access to various forms of media, the government is able to prevent the spread of free information, a key aspect of democracy.
However, despite this backsliding, Senegal may also be labelled as somewhat of a success story in regards to democratic erosion due to its ability to counter it. On the 15th of February, the constitutional court ruled Sall’s decision to postpone the election unconstitutional. The court stated that the election had to be held before the 2nd of April, the end of his presidential term. As a result, the election took place on the 24th of March, without incident and a peaceful transfer of power to the opposition candidate, Bassirou Diomaye Faye. This indicates the ability of the judiciary and legislature to pressure the incumbent government into following democratic norms and processes as well as highlighting the independence of these branches.
In conclusion, the events that occurred in Senegal during the 2024 presidential election reveal that even in seemingly stable and desirable democratic nations, the excessive use and abuse of power can be viewed as a red flag for erosion. Although the public backlash may have slowed down the nation’s democratic backslide, it simultaneously exposed institutional weaknesses that lie within the nation of Senegal.
Sources:
How Democracies Die by Levitsky and Ziblatt
The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes by Linz and Stepan
On Democratic Backsliding by Bermeo
https://www.idea.int/gsod/2024/chapters/global-trends/box/2024-election-in-senegal/
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/06/05/senegal-violent-crackdown-opposition-dissent
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