Macky Sall

Macky Sall (born December 11, 1961, Fatick, Senegal) is a Senegalese geologist and politician who served as prime minister (2004–07) and as president (2012–24) of Senegal.

Early life, education, and entry into politics

Sall was raised in a family of modest means in the town of Fatick in western Senegal. He studied geological engineering and geophysics at University Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar (graduated 1988) and the French Institute of Petroleum outside Paris. In 2000 he became a special adviser on energy and mines to Senegalese Pres. Abdoulaye Wade, and the following year he became minister of mines, energy, and water. In 2002 he also took on the position of mayor of his hometown. Sall continued to pick up government portfolios, briefly taking on infrastructure and transportation in addition to his other duties in 2002 and then becoming a minister of state that same year. He exchanged his energy position for the interior and local government portfolio in 2003.

Road to the presidency

In 2004 Sall was appointed deputy secretary-general of Wade’s Senegalese Democratic Party (Parti Démocratique Sénégalais; PDS) and also prime minister—the fourth for Wade in as many years—a position he held until he resigned in June 2007. Soon afterward he was elected president of the National Assembly.

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However, in November that year PDS leaders voted to abolish Sall’s position within the party, and less than a year later the National Assembly voted to significantly reduce the term of its presidency—from five years to one year—effectively attempting to oust Sall from the government. He refused to give up his post, and the National Assembly soon passed a resolution to remove him from it. Many speculated that, despite his perceived status as Wade’s protégé, Sall had fallen out of favor with the ruling party after bringing Wade’s son, Karim, before the National Assembly for questioning about his alleged mismanagement of government funds. Sall promptly resigned from the PDS and the posts he had held as a representative of PDS, including his mayorship of Fatick, and shortly thereafter he formed his own party, Alliance for the Republic—Hope (Alliance pour la République—Yaakaar; APR—Yaakaar). He was reelected as Fatick’s mayor in 2009.

Wade, meanwhile, had started losing popularity. The country became disillusioned with him for a variety of reasons, including his lack of progress in repairing infrastructure, the steadily rising cost of living during his administration, and his pursuit of a third term as president. In the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, Sall emerged as one of Wade’s strongest challengers out of the 13 opposition candidates, promising to bring down basic costs and reduce the presidential term from seven to five years. In the first round of voting, held in February 2012, Sall won about 27 percent of the vote, coming in second to Wade, who won about 35 percent. However, support for Sall surged before the March runoff election, with all the opposition candidates standing behind him. He won the second round of voting by a landslide, about 66 to 34 percent, and was inaugurated as president on April 2, 2012.

President

Sall immediately set about downsizing the presidential cabinet in order to cut costs. One of his prominent campaign promises—to reduce the time a president could be in office—came to fruition in 2016. Changing the term from seven to five years and limiting a president to two terms were among several proposed changes to the constitution that Sall submitted to the country’s Constitutional Council in January 2016. The next month, the Constitutional Council rejected Sall’s attempt to shorten his own current term, but the other proposals, including the presidential term reduction that would take effect after he left office, were allowed to be put to a referendum, which was held in March. More than 60 percent voted in favor of the changes.

While in office, Sall championed an ambitious development plan named “Emerging Senegal” that aimed to transform the country’s economy and living conditions. Infrastructure in the country was expanded and upgraded, and construction began on Diamniadio, a planned city east of Dakar that would comprise government and business offices, an industrial park, housing, and cultural attractions. The new city was intended to draw activity away from the overcrowded capital of Dakar as well as create employment opportunities.

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In contrast to Sall’s achievements were the accusations that he was growing intolerant of the opposition and dissent. Demonstrations against him and the actions of his administration were held, some of which were violently broken up by security forces. Some opposition figures who were jailed claimed that the charges against them were politically motivated. An election law passed in 2018 made it more difficult to become a presidential candidate, and it was criticized for effectively limiting the number of potential challengers to Sall in the next election. In addition, two of his most prominent challengers were unable to run because of previous criminal proceedings against them, which critics said were suspect. Against this backdrop, Sall was favored to win reelection and did so, securing 58 percent of the vote in the presidential election held on February 24, 2019.

There had long been speculation that Sall might want to stand for a third term as president. He had been largely noncommittal on the matter, though he did assert that he had the right to do so, arguing that his first term did not count toward the limit of two terms specified in the 2016 constitutional amendment, as it passed while he was already in office. The opposition and many legal experts, however, thought a third term for him would be illegitimate. Tensions over the issue grew worse in 2023, exacerbated by ongoing complaints of Sall’s intolerance of dissent as well as the trial of one of the most popular potential presidential candidates, Ousmane Sonko, who had for years been mired in legal proceedings that he and his supporters said were politically motivated. Several protests—some deadly—objecting to the proceedings against Sonko had taken place by midyear. Another protest was held on May 12 by a coalition called F24 that had formed to pressure Sall to rule out standing for a third term.

On July 3, 2023, Sall announced that he would not seek a third term. His announcement eased tensions and earned accolades from some, who likened Sall’s proclamation to the defusing of a bomb. Others, however, pointed out that he could have made his intentions known much sooner and thus prevented some of the previous years’ unrest. Sall later chose Prime Minister Amadou Ba to be the flag bearer of his Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) coalition in the 2024 presidential election.

Sall sparked controversy and Senegal was plunged into turmoil when, on February 3, 2024—just three weeks prior to the presidential election scheduled for February 25—he announced that the election would be postponed, ostensibly to resolve a dispute regarding the disqualification of some presidential candidates by the Constitutional Council in January. Sonko, unsurprisingly, was among the disqualified candidates; Karim Wade was another, and, in the days before Sall’s announcement, Wade’s PDS party had moved in the National Assembly to launch an inquiry into the Constitutional Council’s ruling, to investigate allegations of corruption against some of its judges, and to postpone the election. While Wade and the PDS supported Sall’s postponement decision, most of the opposition and other groups fiercely criticized it, with some accusing Sall of having orchestrated an institutional or constitutional coup. On February 5 the National Assembly voted to approve postponing the election until December 15 and to keep Sall in power until a new president was installed, but the vote took place only after opposition leaders’ attempts block it managed to halt proceedings for a couple of hours and they were removed by security. The election postponement was the first such a one in Senegal’s history and was met with domestic protest and international criticism.

On February 15 the Constitutional Council ruled on the matter. It annulled the actions of Sall and the National Assembly, declaring that neither the president nor the legislative body had the authority to postpone the election, and said that the election should be held as soon as possible. The next day the president’s office announced that Sall would comply with the council’s decision. About two weeks later it was announced that the election would be held on March 24, 2024.

Election day was peaceful and saw a turnout of more than 61 percent. Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who is a close associate of Sonko’s and had campaigned with him in the run-up to the election, was announced the winner, having taken more than 54 percent of the vote. Sall’s handpicked successor, Ba, trailed Faye with almost 36 percent. On April 2, after 12 years as president, Sall stepped down as Faye took office and appointed Sonko as prime minister.

After a brief pause, Sall returned to the political stage when, in the run-up to snap legislative elections set for November 2024, his party and others formed a coalition, Takku Wallu Sénégal (Wolof: “Let’s Unite to Save Senegal”), to compete. Sall himself vied for a seat in the National Assembly and led the coalition’s candidate list. In the November 17 election, Takku Wallu Sénégal only won about one-tenth of the body’s seats.