Neelam Rahim – neelam@radioislam.co.za

4 minute read
18 September 2022
15:50 pm CAT

Senegalese President Macky Sall reinstated the post of prime minister on Saturday, appointing a former economy minister to the duty two months after a tense legislative election during which Sall’s ruling coalition lost its comfortable majority.

A presidential decree named Amadou Ba, a former foreign minister, as the new premier of the divided country five days after the return of parliament, which was marked by a series of incidents and meted out under heavy security.

Ba served under Sall as minister of finance between 2013 and 2019 before becoming foreign minister in 2019 until 2020.

Sall promised to appoint a figure from the winning party in the polls.

His coalition narrowly won the election but could only keep its majority with the support of an opposition MP.

In a speech to the nation on Friday, Sall said the new prime minister would be accountable for addressing the rising cost of living.

“Measures to reduce the cost of living and support employment and entrepreneurship for young people, the fight against floods and expensive rents will remain the highest of priorities on behalf of me,” Sall said.

Ba echoed these sentiments during his first speech after the president’s secretary general read the decree.

Sall, 60, was elected in 2012 for seven years, then re-elected in 2019 for an additional five.

When Sall removed the premier role, the opposition and parts of civil society denounced his attempt to seize greater power.

Concerns over his rule persist, and a few accuse him of desirous of breaking the two-term limit and running again in 2024.

Authorities on Friday banned a concert due to be held on Saturday and organised by civil society groups promoting limited mandates in Africa due to what authorities said were the “risks of unrest”, triggering a wave of anger on social media.

Sall has also fallen out with a key figure in his camp, former Prime Minister Aminata Mimi Toure, who wasn’t chosen to lead the national assembly and has since denounced “injustice”.

Source: Africanews