Pastef à l’épreuve de Branco
Between Ousmane Sonko's Pastef and lawyer Juan Branco, a duel between sovereignty and foreign actors is likely to unfold. For some time now, the Franco-Spanish lawyer has begun to repeatedly speak out against the Pastef regime. First, on his own behalf, then on that of his colleagues. A few days ago, Juan Branco castigated the sidelining of Senegalese lawyers in litigation abroad in favor of firms like the Gide law firm. "My colleagues are systematically excluded from litigation by the administration, which has not actually changed hands. Yet they are the ones who carried out the revolution. (...) I am overwhelmed to see and hear them tell me about the contempt and lack of respect they face daily," he said.
Last July, Branco also spoke out against the judicial delays in his personal file. He accused the Senegalese authorities of playing dead in the face of the Spanish justice system's insistence on obtaining information about his arrest, imprisonment, and extradition.
Already in December 2024, he had castigated a compromise between the Diomaye-Sonko regime and France. Branco had not appreciated the invitation of "white bodies" to the Thiaroye 44 commemoration ceremony "on the orders and at the expense of the Prime Minister's office." This attack was clearly aimed at Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. Not to mention the failure to keep the promise to leave the CFA, denounced at the same time.
We can see that Branco hardly misses an opportunity to denigrate the new regime. For the moment, Pastef, despite its allergy to criticism, seems to be letting it slide. There hasn't yet been a single green shutter, as is usually the case. But for how long? One wonders what's holding back the patriots, who are fans of the 72-hour system.
The fundamental problem here is that Branco is not going to stop. Firstly, because of his personality, since he is a controversial lawyer. But above all, because of his participation in the resistance and therefore in the conquest of power. The French lawyer believes he has all the legitimacy to have taken risks in the same way as the current ministers, director generals, and other deputies. Speaking of his fellow lawyers, he says that they were alongside Sonko, Diomaye, and other anonymous people "risking their lives" while many prominent figures had stopped answering the phone out of fear. Branco doesn't say so, but he puts himself in this group of people who mortgaged their lives for the triumph of the project.
It will therefore be difficult for Pastef to contradict him. And yet, the matter is all the more delicate because it involves a foreigner interfering in the internal affairs of a country run by a sovereignist government. However, the patriots will never be able to ask Branco to meddle in their affairs. It was their leader Ousmane Sonko, an opponent, who authorized him to handle internal affairs by making him his lawyer, with the aim of giving international recognition to his fight against Macky Sall.
Today, Sonko and Pastef seem trapped. With Branco, it's a boomerang effect. Thus, the patriots risk being regularly lectured by a foreigner on internal affairs without being able to respond appropriately. And if Branco ever has access to sensitive files, the matter could be even more delicate for Pastef.
Which proves that, in one's opposition strategy, one must also integrate the consequences once in power. Something Pastef clearly did not do. And on many issues such as amnesty, the CFA (Conservative Fund for the Promotion of Foreign Trade), violence on social networks, etc., Sonko and Co. are being caught up in the harsh reality of managing power.
Commentaires (11)
Son appétit a décuplé et il veut entrer dans le garde-manger et y rester ad vitam æternam.
Je n'arrive pas à avoir la même acception du mot souverainisme que nos dirigeants.
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