Jun2611 Deepening Democracy

Jun2611 Deepening Democracy: "Mr Wade, who is 85 years old, is planning to contest next year's presidential election with his son, Karim Wade, as his running mate. To prepare his son's political career, he had made him the major contractor for all major projects in the country over the past five years. He was also the organiser of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting a couple of years ago and received all the foreign donations to prepare Dakar for the conference.

Immediately after the OIC conference, the younger Wade, with his fat war chest, contested to be the mayor of Dakar. He was disgraced at the polls and lost his deposit. His father then compensated him by merging five ministries together and appointing him super minister. The constitutional proposal aimed at making Karim Wade Vice President was therefore aimed at preparing the father-to-son political succession.

Part of the reason for Karim's unpopularity is that he does not even speak Wolof, the country's lingua franca, but speaks French with his mother's French accent."