The campaign for the early legislative elections on November 17 in Senegal is marked by cases of violence. After the burning of the headquarters of an opposition party on October 28, clashes between supporters of the opposition coalition “Takku Wallu” and Pastef took place in the center of the country on the evening of October 30. Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko’s convoy was targeted by stone throwing which left people injured. Violence being a recurring problem in Senegal at each election, 15 civil society organizations created the collective “Saxxal Jamm” (“Promote peace” in Wolof) to imagine ways to stem it.
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With our correspondent in Dakar, Léa-Lisa Westerhoff
For civil society organizations Senegalthe urgency is to raise the debate, to talk about political programs rather than throwing invectives at each other. Moundiaye Cissé, head of the NGO 3D and member of the “Saxxal Jamm” collective, calls on political actors to take action and more responsibility:
“ There is reason to pull ourselves together. But if political actors do not follow, it is up to the State to take its responsibilities. And when I say the State, I mean the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior, to discourage all forms of violence by taking sanctions against their perpetrators. »
It is time for the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Justice to take strong measures to deter any desire for violence in the country
Senegal: Moundiaye Cissé calls on the Ministries of the Interior and Justice to face violence during the electoral period
The collective advocates greater speed in arrests to avoid impunity, but the idea of this collective is also to do long-term work with ten people deployed in all regions of the country to prevent violent actions. Professor Babacar Gueye, head of the collective of civil society organizations for the elections, explains:
“ The period leading up to this last presidential election was deadly. We therefore saw fit to put this program in place. What we want is for peace to become a culture. »
And for these legislative elections on November 17, 1,500 national observers will be deployed in the 46 departments to observe the vote and report possible cases of electoral violence.
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