former PM's coterie

Senegal: Idrissa Seck’s unwavering supporters in presidential bid

By Mawunyo Hermann Boko

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Posted on June 14, 2023 05:00

Idrissa Seck’s inner circle. Montage JA
Idrissa Seck’s inner circle. Montage JA

Idrissa Seck plots his path to the presidency with the help of friends, loyal supporters and former comrades from the Parti démocratique sénégalais (PDS).

Although their relationship is no more, Seck has much in common with his former mentor, Abdoulaye Wade. Before coming to power in 2000 after nearly 30 years as a member of the political opposition, Wade agreed to serve as minister of state in Abdou Diouf‘s unity government twice, in 1991 and 1995.

Alternating between alliances with the majority and the opposition is another choice Seck made. In 2013, he withdrew from the ruling Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) coalition after supporting Macky Sall in the second round the previous year. He then rejoined the camp of the current president in November 2020.

Although he justified it on the grounds of his patriotic duty to support a country in the throes of an economic crisis as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, this misunderstood initiative led to the departure of senior members of his party, including Déthié Fall, his vice-president. Worse still,

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