Senegal's Sonko says foreign military bases to close

Senegal's Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko spoke for hours in parliament on Friday, laying out the new government's plans barely a month after the decisive parliamentary election victory cementing the authority of President Diomaye Faye, elected earlier in the year. 

He touched on multiple domestic issues, not least a contentious plan to waive amnesty rules passed by the previous government, potentially with a view to prosecuting rivals like former President Macky Sall.

Sonko also declared all foreign military bases in the country should be closed, saying this idea had first been put forward by President Faye. 

"The President of the Republic has decided to close all foreign military bases in the very near future," Sonko said, to applause from the chamber.  

Western footprint in francophone Sahel fading fast

Faye, who dissolved parliament and called snap elections during his first months in office, last month expressed the desire to close French military bases in Senegal.

"Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country, and sovereignty does not accommodate the presence of foreign military bases," he said during a rare media interview. 

Western powers have been struggling to maintain their presence in the Sahel region amid a series of coups in countries like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, with the military governments all subsequently turning to Russia for assistance instead. 

They've ramped up diplomatic efforts with countries like Senegal and the Ivory Coast in response, but the change of government in Dakar looks set to pose further challenges.

France has now left Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso entirely, and on Thursday said it had also pulled its last troops out of a base in Chad. It is believed to have around 350 troops in Senegal.

Sonko's other plans — revoking amnesty for former President Sall

The Senegalese prime minister told the lawmakers that the government was working to repeal a mass amnesty law that was one of the last major acts of former President Macky Sall. A project aimed at revoking the initiative would be put forward "in the coming weeks," Sonko said.

Sall passed the law amid mass protests in the run-up to the presidential election, seemingly in a bid to calm tensions, releasing hundreds of people imprisoned on charges connected with stoking public violence. 

This amnesty ultimately allowed both Faye and Sonko to run for public office, and win power, though Sall's critics claim it was also designed to shield him in the future. 

"This is not a witch hunt, much less revenge," Sonko told parliament. "It is about justice, the pillar without which no social peace can be built." 

What else did Sonko pledge? 

Sonko said his government would change its visa policy with a number of European countries, including France, as well as the US, saying it would demand "free visas for Senegalese nationals on the basis of the principle of reciprocity." 

Senegal had scrapped its visa fees in 2015 in a bid to boost tourism.

Sonko said his government would seek to bolster public finances by "broadening the tax base" while gradually lowering the average tax rates. He defined the goal as to "make all Senegalese pay less, but make all Senegalese pay" to "achieve effective and equitable taxation." 

He said the country would improve its economy by starting to exploit natural gas, as Senegal plans to in 2025, but also by boosting the industrial sector.

Sonko also said his government would promote "multilingualism," introducing more English and national languages into an education system dominated by French.

msh/dj (AFP, AP)