BBC NEWS

  Wednesday, 8 March, 2000, 16:37 GMT
Senegal opposition unites for presidency



Mr Wade is increasing his support ahead of the elections

By West Africa correspondent Mark Doyle

Senegal's leading opposition politician Abdoulaye Wade looks set to receive
a major boost in his campaign to win the second round of presidential
elections later this month.

The senior opposition politician, Moustapha Niasse, has said that
negotiations between him and Mr Wade, to form an alliance to contest
presidential elections later this month are going well.

If a deal is reached they have a good chance of revolutionising the
political scene in Senegal, by beating President Abdou Diouf.



President Diouf could be the first incumbent to be defeated in Senegal

It will be the first time in the country's history that the incumbent
president is defeated.

President Diouf failed to win a large enough majority during the first round
of voting in late February, and so could not be declared the outright
winner.

Opposition candidates, by their showing, have forced an unprecedented second
round to be held on 19 March.

Many Senegalese, irrespective of their political affiliations, saw the
result from the first round as a major victory for democracy, because it
holds out the possibility of real change.

But it has also led to intense political negotiations, and talk of civil
unrest if the politicians fail to control the situation.

Deal

Senegal has always had a vibrant political scene.

It was one of the first African countries to adopt a multi-party system, in
1974.

It has a lively free press, a relatively liberal judicial system, and many
other attributes of a democratic state, except one - the ruling Socialist
Party has never lost power and its presidential candidate has never lost an
election.

The alliance being formed behind 74-year-old opposition leader, Abdoulaye
Wade, could change all that.

Defensive president

Mr Niasse has said he was considering accepting the position of prime
minister if Mr Wade wins the second and decisive round of voting.

This unprecedented possibility has led to fever pitch political plotting in
Senegal.

The hybrid opposition alliance of left and right-wing politicians is
jockeying for post-electoral position, and President Diouf has been put on
the defensive.

He has taken to giving unusual press conferences in an effort to muster
support.

The president is also struggling to hold the ruling Socialist Party
together.

The level of debate is now so intense that some politicians are openly
suggesting that the authorities could lose control of the situation and that
this might lead to a coup d'etat.

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