Senegal: Between the office of the president and Ousmane Sonko, negotiations are now possible.

Can Senegal move towards stability? Ten days after President Macky Sall’s announcement to postpone the presidential election, the opposition and civil organizations have continued to express their anger, even as calm prevails in the capital. Behind the scenes, the president’s office began talks with opposition leader Ousmane Sonko to try to ease tensions.

Mediators began to bridge the gap between Macky Sall and Ousmane Sonko who has been in prison since July. Human rights activist Alioune Tine and businessman Pierre Goudiaby Atepa are the mediators. Pierre Goudiaby Atepa explains that ‘he was appointed as a facilitator by the president to see how to convince everyone for negotiations with the aim of calming the hostilities’. The issue of Ousmane Sonko’s release is on the table and negotiations are already underway. According to Pierre Goudiaby Atepa, President Macky Sall has already given his instructions to release in the future about a thousand people who are detained in jail after being arrested in March and June last year. Neither negotiation nor forgiveness. ‘We want elections as soon as possible,’ says a former PASTEF party cadre.

Another sign of stability: The restoration of telephone data that was cut on Tuesday February 13, and the television signal of Walf TV on Monday whose license was restored authorities on the sidelines of the protest on Friday.

But for now, these signs are not convincing everyone. A large part of the opposition still wants elections to be held on February 25 and the departure of Macky Sall on April 2, the date on which he was supposed to hand over power to his successor. Macky Sall has so far not shown any sign of reversing his decision while the new coalition of civil society organizations of Aar Sunu Elections is still planning a protest on Saturday February 17 across the country against the postponement of the election.