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March 26th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Whereas most African countries began holding elections post-independence in
the 1960s, the Senegalese first cast their ballots 164 years ago starting in
1848 when France gave its territory the right to elect a deputy to the
French parliament.
At a midnight press conference at a Dakar hotel, Sall offered few details on
the conversation he had with Wade earlier in the evening. Instead, he
praised the voters and said he would be the president for all Senegalese.
“Tonight, a new era begins for Senegal,” Mr Sall told the hundreds
of journalists and euphoric supporters who crammed into the venue to hear
him speak.
There was no immediate comment from Wade himself, though his spokesman Serigne
Mbacke Ndiaye confirmed the president’s concession of defeat.
“Senegal, through a transparent election, just proved once again that it
remains a great democracy, a great country,” he said in a press
release.
Mr Wade first took office in 2000 after his predecessor conceded in a historic
moment for Senegal. He easily won re-election in 2007, but has seen his
popularity suffer amid soaring costs of living and unemployment. When he
cast his ballot last month in the first round of balloting, some voters even
booed him at the poll shouting: “Old man, get lost.”
His image also was tarnished after he began giving an increasing share of
power to his son Karim, who was derisively called “the Minister of the
Sky and the Earth” after he was handed control of multiple ministries
including infrastructure and energy.
Mr Wade’s reputation took a nosedive when he announced last year that he
planned to run for a third term. For weeks leading up to last month’s
election, protesters calling for Wade to step down hurled rocks at police in
demonstrations that paralysed the capital’s economic heart.
In recent weeks, images of Mr Wade on campaign posters had their eyes
scratched out. And his convoy was hit by rocks in the final days of the
run-off campaign.
Marieme Ousmane Wele, 55, said she had voted for Sall because the rising
prices of basic goods have made her life increasingly difficult.
“I sell cereal made from corn but the price of corn has really gone up.
Now, I don’t have many customers and it’s becoming difficult to feed my own
family,” she said, as men sat nearby on plastic lawn chairs in the sand
listening to news about the election on portable radios.
Others, though, praised Mr Wade for the economic progress made during his 12
years in power. At a polling station in the suburb of Grand Yoff, Raymonde
Semou, 64, said Sunday she personally credited Mr Wade with helping two of
her six children find work.
“Before, I had to sell grilled peanuts to feed my family and it was very
difficult for me,” she said.
Now, her employed sons have bought land to build a house, and she adds there
is now electricity in her hometown in Senegal’s restive southern Casamance
region.
Sall, 50, a former prime minister who ran Mr Wade’s last campaign in 2007, is
a geologist by training who worked for years under Wade. The two, though,
had a subsequent falling out and during the campaign Wade referred to Sall
as an apprentice who had not yet taken in “the lessons of his mentor.”
Most simply spoke of change rather than Sall’s credentials when explaining how
they voted on Sunday.
Dr Johny Assane said he voted for Mr Wade in 2000 but has since become
disillusioned. While he says he is financially secure, he has seen how
others have failed to benefit from Mr Wade’s leadership.
“The situation of my patients who come to get medicine in my office has
really deteriorated,” he said. “Everywhere there are children
whose parents are finding it difficult to pay for their treatment and that
shows me that the country is not working.”
Source: agencies
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