Senegal Runoff

The presidential elections in Senegal appear headed for a runoff election, opening up the country for further political unrest.

Protests had broken out ahead of the February 26^th presidential election after a constitutional court ruled that President Abdoulaye Wade could run for a third term, in spite of a two term limit that Wade himself signed into law after his election in 2001. Wade had argued that he could run again because he had been elected under the old constitution, a claim the five judges all appointed by Wade, agreed with.

In spite of the recent protests, the election was declared peaceful and orderly by international observers.

 President Abdoulaye Wade received 24% of the vote. This virtually assures a run-off election between the two top candidates. In order to avoid a runoff, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote.

 International actors continue to express concern that Wade’s run for a third term and the accompanying protests will put the security of West Africa’s most stable democracy at risk.

Senegal: Not Another Africa

Africa is dogged by fragile democratic institutions. The latest example of democratic fragility comes from relatively peaceful Senegal.

 Protests have broken out ahead of the February 26^th presidential election after a constitutional court ruled that President Abdoulaye Wade could run for a third term, in spite of a two term limit that Wade himself signed into law after his election in 2001.

Wade had argued that he could run again because he had been elected under the old constitution, a claim the five judges all appointed by Wade, agreed with.

 Last June, Wade attempted to reduce the number of first round votes needed to win from fifty to twenty five percent. Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2012/0206/Senegalese-opposition-denounce-president-s-bid-for-third-term

These sound like the actions of a would-be autocrat. Attempting to violate constitutionally prescribed term limits while getting a favorable ruling from judges that Mr. Wade appointed. We cannot have African democracy while we have leaders willing to use constitutions as toilet paper.

Sadly, the type of behavior exhibited by Wade is an all too common story around Africa that the African people cannot and should not tolerate. The people of Senegal can choose to stand for democracy or they can choose to stand for masked tyranny.

Putin, we Protest?

The recent Russian Duma elections have brought a rare sight to Russian streets: mass protests against Vladimir Putin and his system of managed democracy.

 The polls showed that United Russia had won with almost fifty percent of the vote--a far cry from their 2007 totals, amid allegations of voter fraud and ballot box stuffing. These mass protests seem to have caught everyone off guard because of their size and the youthful core of the protestors.

While no one is predicting a Putin collapse, these protests are a positive development for Russian democracy.

Putin has largely run a dominant party police state that has excluded opposition parties and restricted voter choice. No population is going to stay passive forever against such conditions. Still, most Russians continue to put up with the system of managed democracy and the need for a police state.

It was largely assumed before these mass protests that things were peachy under the Russian sun. These protests offer a flicker of hope for advocates of democracy within the Russian Federation, but don’t expect these protests to lead to anything other than a Putin crackdown because the majority of Russians stand firmly behind Putin.