The grand coalition “Yewwi Askan Wi” (“liberate the people”) was launched on Thursday 2 September 2021 at City business, in the Senegalese capital. Yewwi askan wi is composed of a dozen opposition parties and movements including Ousmane Sonko’s Pastef and Khalifa Sall’s Taxawu Senegal. A well-constituted front that intends to face the coalition “Benno Bokk Yakaar” of President Macky Sall.
The Senegalese opposition met on Thursday 2 September to launch a grand coalition to prepare for the next local elections. Even if it did not manage to bring together all the leaders of the opposition, this coalition is well represented with the presence of major parties and movement of Senegal. Il s’agit de Pastef de Sonko, Taxawu Senegaal de Khalifa Sall, Pur de Serigne Moustapha Sy, Grand Parti de Malick Gakou, Gueum sa bopp de Bougane Guèye Dany, And Saxal ligeey de Aïda Mbodj, Fsd/Bj de Cheikh Bamba Dièye, Avenir Sénégal bi nu begg de Cheikh Tidiane Dièye, Fds/Les Guelwaars de Babacar Diop, Parti de l’espoir et de la modernité de Habib Sy, Parti républicain pour le progrès de Déthié Fall, Guédiawaye la bokk de Ahmed Aïdara, Set de Moustapha Guirassy, Bess du niak de Mansour Sy Djamil, Alliance Pencoo de Moussa Tine, Pcs/Jengu tabax de Boubacar Camara, Aminata Lô Dieng de Apel/3j, Abdourahmane Diouf.
The Yewwi Askan Wi coalition through Moussa Tine, the leader of the Pencoo Alliance, recalled the significant role played by khalifa Sall in bringing together the opposition around the essentials. “This is the culmination of nine months of discussions on the initiative of Khalifa Sall, between the opposition parties to deal with the cynical and mean governance of the Macky Sall regime,’ he said.
In response to those who decided to leave the coalition at the last moment, for example the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) and Thierno Bocoum, Moussa Tine said that the coalition members «are not in the political calculations». He added that “ November 2020, Khalifa Sall has risen to speak to all opposition leaders. He was absent for 3 weeks for a trip to France and Ousmane Sonko took over to discuss with everyone about the charter that the coalition was to carry. It was done in complete secrecy because it had to be done responsibly. We were all represented there. Taxawu Senegal had 5 representatives, Pds (5), Pur (5) and Pastef (5). Since the beginning, it has been said, noted and written that it was simply for negotiation convenience but that the coalition would be open to all parties and political movements in Senegal. That is the truth”.
The objective of the coalition “Yewwi Askan Wi” is to ring the mobilization around the essentials for the local elections scheduled for January 2022. This will not be easy because there will be shocks of ambitions but, to the coalition to take action and silence the egos to succeed the mission.
Wade’s PDS (Senegalese Democratic Party) and Bokk Guis Guis de Pape Diop preferred to stay away from the coalition, brandishing “points of disagreement” that undermine the initiative.
The leader of Gueum Sa Bopp, Bougane Guèye Dany, had left the room to denounce the way in which the name and colors of the coalition were retained, without involvement of the members.The initiator, Khalifa Sall, promised a meeting to settle the irregularities in the coming days.
