Senegal’s Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, has advised Pastef party followers to exact retribution for claimed violence against them during the Sunday parliamentary election campaign.
Before a presidential election in March in some of the greatest disturbances in Senegal’s history, supporters of the prime minister, also president of Pastef, battled with police. Since Sonko’s ally, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, won the vote, the nation has remained peaceful. He defeated then-president Macky Sall handily.
However, reports of periodic conflicts between various party supporters have surfaced recently as the nation gets ready for a legislative contest that will finally determine how much Faye and Sonko will be able to carry out their agenda.
Sonko claimed in a social media post attacks against Pastef supporters in the capital Dakar and other towns since campaigning began.
“May each patriot they have attacked and injured, be proportionally avenged. We will exercise our legitimate right to respond,” he wrote.
The text accompanied a photo of a young man showing a gashing wound on his forearm.
The first week of campaigning saw an increase in violence reported by a local civil society group involving conflicts between supporters in central Senegal and the burning of an opposition party headquarters in Dakar.
Calling for calm, the interior ministry said on Monday it had been notified of acts of violence and sabotage against party caravans and other campaign activity.
In order to stop damage, rights defender Alioune Tine asked politicians to exhibit “moderation and wisdom” in their speech and requested the interior ministry to invite various party representatives to meet.
“The verbal escalation has reached a critical threshold, we have the impression of going to war,” Tine posted on X.
Pastef is up against former ruling parties that have united ex-presidents Sall and Abdoulaye Wade into a coalition.
Dissolving the opposition-led national assembly in September, Faye accused legislators of not participating in substantive budget and other proposal debates.