Senegal: New cabinet unveiled, opposition leaders in lineup

The lineup of the Senegalese government, expected for four days, was finally unveiled Sunday afternoon.

The new government of “openness and unity”, unveiled Sunday in Senegal, wants to be rejuvenated, with the entry of several members of the opposition “in the dynamics of the consensus, resulting from the political dialogue” launched following the re-election of Macky Sall in February 2019.

Seven new personalities have joined this “government of combat and results” composed of 33 ministers and four secretaries of state. Among them are members of the opposition, such as Oumar Sarr, a former executive of Abdoulaye Wade’s Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS). He was appointed Minister of Mines and Geology.

 

But the surprise comes above all from the appointment of Idrissa Seck as President of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council. The leader of the opposition party Rewmi, who came second in the 2019 presidential election, becomes the third personality of the state.

Several heavyweights of the RPA presidential party were not reappointed, such as Amadou Ba, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Aly Ngouille Ndiaye, former Minister of the Interior.

Senegal’s President Macky Sall, however, retained key allies, including the finance and economy ministers.

Abodulaye Diallo retained the post of finance minister. Sall also kept Amadou Hott as economy minister, a post he held in the previous cabinet.

Sophie Gladima, who previously served as mining minister, was named minister of petroleum and energy, replacing Mouhamadou Makhtar Cisse, who held the post since January 2019.

The major innovation comes from the creation of a Ministry of Handicrafts and Informal Sector Transformation to respond to national development in the post-COVID-19 context.

The new government team will meet next Wednesday in a Council of Ministers.