Five months after the declaration of the candidature of Idrissa Seck’s in the coming Senegalese presidential race which takes place in February 2007, Abdoulaye Wade, the Senegalese head of state, has been invested by his political party with the mandate to run for the elections.

During the executive committee meeting held last Sunday, 80-year-old PDS leader, the prophet of Sopi, (‘change’ in Wolof), was confirmed candidate in accord with his professed principle, recently aired on the waves of RFI, that he would become the candidate only when his party invests him. To many keen observers of recent Senegalese politics, the news that PDS have chosen their national Secretary-General, Maitre Abdoulaye Wade, as flag bearer, came without any surprise.

Thanking his party members and allies for having chosen him, President Wade said that PDS is a party “which does not resemble any other political party with convinced and determined militants.’’

By giving privilege to his party congress to nominate him, Wade has proven wrong his opponents’ view that he is “a party owner and central stage man.” “PDS is not only its Secretary-General’s but also its militants’ and other leaders’ in charge; we draw our legitimacy from the charter of the militants,” Maitre Wade stated.

However, the nomination of PDS candidate for the coming presidential election wasn’t a smooth affair. A crowd of militants expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the congress was conducted. Indeed, several party members who were expected to speak before Wade were not allowed to do so, a situation that Abdoulaye Wade dramatised by explaining that “word could not be given to everyone due to the necessity for conciseness and economy of time.”

Wade emphasised that his victory in 2007 was sure. He also took the opportunity to invite all opposition parties who wish to join him. “When I say come to work with me, it does not mean that I am not able to achieve the mission that is entrusted to me. I invite, therefore, all those in the opposition and who believe that they want to work with us, to come and join me for the interest of Senegal,” the maitre intimated.