Latest from Le Quotidien
Le Quotidien
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Le Quotidien
His appeal rejected by the Supreme Court: Sonko brings down justice and the opposition
Back from China, where he spent a week, the Prime Minister went 'live', as he likes to do, to report on his trip and settle his scores with the old regime and the justice system. Happy as Sonko, who had a good trip to China. The Prime Minister, still stunned by the country's situation after more than 14 months in office, is having trouble changing his tune. « We're not whining, » he says. But he still talks about the country's economic situation, the outstanding debt which is close to 100%. Today, he promises an economic recovery plan as soon as possible. « It will be an excellent plan to get the country out of this situation, » assures the Prime Minister, who detailed the contracts and agreements signed during his visit to China. You can't change your nature, it'll come back in a galop. He continued to settle scores with the Sall regime and the justice system by commenting on yesterday's Supreme Court decision in the Mame Mbaye Niang case. « It was because of this case that my candidacy was rejected. These are the same judges who are at the Supreme Court, and I wanted them to follow their logic through to the end. I will participate in any election I want, » assured Sonko, determined to continue his fight. « I wrote to the Minister of Justice on March 5, 2025, to tell him that the Justice system should take responsibility. He replied on March 26, saying that my position as Prime Minister would make any possible proceedings difficult. On April 2, I said that it was Citizen Sonko who had referred the matter to you. I am not afraid of any case. I will be ready to answer before the Court so that it can examine the cases for both the prosecution and the defense. Our lawyers will contact the Minister of Justice tomorrow (today) with new facts and the reports we have. Where is the person who accused us? She fled the country. Senegalese justice must live up to the citizens' expectations. The case must be reopened because it has nothing to do with our ineligibility. This is a fight of principles. I am fighting for the country to change. Politically or state-wise (Sic) whether you are a magistrate, Director General, or civil servant. I never went to get my passports, and they came to give me my diplomatic passports, and I travel as I please. It is the justice system that is discrediting itself, even if we all agree that there are excellent magistrates, » Sonko tried to put things into perspective. In any case, the Prime Minister is irritated by the turn of events. « We will never forget what happened because of the magistrates who were given land and money to prevent me from being a candidate. This created a lot of tension with deaths and imprisonments ». And added: « We are waiting for justice on these issues, on the theft of billions. I have never called a magistrate or a prosecutor. I want to be independent. That way, I will have the freedom to criticize because I will not be bound by the position of Prime Minister. Neither the State nor a position can change me. »
Le Quotidien
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Le Quotidien
The new age of diplomacy under the Trump administration
The recent White house visit of South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has sparked a lot of incredulity around the world. The African leader quickly realized that the State visit had turned into something that can only be described as an ambush. If you're wondering how visits from heads of states turned into inaudible bickering on live television, look no further than the reality-TV man himself, Donald Trump. And yes, he also happens to be the president of the world's most powerful nation. Since he returned to power at the beginning of 2025, the leader of the MAGA movement has been trying his best to give a new meaning to the word diplomacy, and he just may be succeeding as far as the United States are concerned. Though I could offer a dictionary's definition of the word 'diplomacy', I'm tempted to share a teaching from my father who, years ago, warned me about not embarrassing people even when I was in the right. He would say that there was always benefit in providing people with a dignified exit ramp even in the most contentious of disagreements because we share the same world, and we may have to deal with each other again. Other people may also see how I behaved when I was in a position of strength, and they would afford me the same grace if I someday found myself on the weaker side of the exchange. As evidenced by the South African President's experience in Washington DC, Mr Trump would obviously disagree with the above perspective. In fact, it's fair to say that the exact opposite is true for this administration. The United States current government seems to view international relationships through a narrow, personal, and quite frankly imperialistic view that cannot possibly benefit the country in the long run. In just a few months, the MAGA billionaire has managed to not only upend America's longest and strongest alliances across the world but also turn the oval office into a backdrop for painfully comedic scenes. Those comedic scenes of course refer in part to the exchanges between the South African delegation that was sitting across Mr. Trump and his few members of his cabinet including the mega-donor and tech industry magnate Elon Musk, a native of South Africa himself. The American president would go on to present Mr. Ramaphosa with false claims of a 'white genocide' supposedly happening in South Africa and would go as as far as showing 'evidence' in the form of a video montage. The video of course showed no such thing, as it was showing protesters with white crosses and not tombs as the US president asserted. It has since then been reported that the video might not have even been shot in South Africa at all. CNN© US president and Vice-President in the middle of tense exchange with Ukrainian president ZelenskyyIt would be easy to focus on the racial element of the discussion and the fantastical claims of white genocide in a country where white people own 72% of the land despite only making up between 7 to 8% of the population. I however believe that doing so would be doing Mr Trump's bidding because these sordid allegations are just the latest weapon of mass distraction that he and his supporters have chosen to deploy to stir us away from his disastrous start to his second presidency. The shocking element should be that a man in his position would offer demonstrably false allegations for the whole world to see, not because he cared about South Africa's white farmers, but because he wanted to send a signal to South Africa and other similar countries that he could summon and humiliate them because he had the power to do so. No one should be confused that the ambush of President Ramaphosa was mostly payback for South Africa's position on the Genocide in Gaza, and the case it initiated before the International Court of Justice that resulted in Israeli leaders being indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was also likely due to pressures from the members of the Trump circle like Elon Musk and Stephen Miller who have tacitly or explicitly embraced white nationalist causes. Miller, who is a fixture in the white house, even suggested that Habeas Corpus should be suspended in the United States, allowing the government to detain individuals without just reason. It should shock and alarm us all indeed, that this iteration of the United States has seemingly given up on diplomacy and is trying to re-assert a waning influence on the world through naked intimidation. The exchange with the leader of the ANC party is unfortunately not the only example of this new direction of American diplomacy. Just a couple of months earlier, the Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelenskyy was treated in a similarly undignified way in the White House, all while his country is in the midst of a conflict with Russia that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives on either side of the war. Zelenskyy was publicly berated by Donald Trump and his vice president JD Vance and told in no uncertain terms that his and the survival of his people depended on the US; something that he had better show gratitude for. That entire ordeal concluded in the Ukrainian leader's visit being cut short by his American counterpart. With allies like that… Politico© Donald Trump during a state visit to Qatar during which he accepted a $400 million plane as a gift Following the 2nd war and the devastation it left on most of the world, the US was the world's lone remaining superpower, and de-facto became a police state, even with the creation of the United Nations and related bodies aiming to enforce the newly enshrined international laws among all member nations. Despite its military power, the US has always been wise to build coalitions and secure allies before acting on the world stage. Whether that was genuine coalition building or a purely symbolic gesture from the world's most powerful country is up for debate, but what is no longer questionable is that the Trump administration is determined to go at it alone and do away with all pretenses of diplomacy. As Cyril Ramaphosa subtlety suggested, the only way to have good relationships with America these days might just be directly through Mr. Trump's or his family's various businesses. America is undergoing fundamental internal changes perhaps not seen since the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1960s, and we can only hope these changes don't reflect the current perception of the US on the world stage; which is worryingly going from that of a police state to a potential mercenary-state. Dema Sane, Bayonne NJ
Le Quotidien
02-07-2025
- Le Quotidien
Terrorist attack in Diboli, Mali: Shots 2 km away from Senegal
Located less than two kilometres from Kidira, on the border between Senegal and Mali, Diboli, a Malian village, was attacked at dawn on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in a coordinated offensive led by suspected jihadists. During the attack, vehicles, motorcycles, and other objects were set ablaze. The gunfire came from both far away and so close. Only 2 km from Kidira. This Tuesday will not soon be forgotten by the populations living along the Senegalese-Malian border. They saw their usual calm disrupted. In a statement released yesterday, the Malian General Staff of the Armed Forces (EMGA) announced that the positions of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) in Niono, Molodo, Sandaré, Nioro du Sahel, Gogui, Kayes, and Diboli were simultaneously attacked by armed gangs. In Diboli, some 2 km from Senegal, they targeted security force installations: police stations, customs posts, and set fire to vehicles and motorcycles. This is so frightening, because the threat remains both so distant and so close. Especially since this is the first time that a border post so close to Senegal has been the direct target of such a coordinated and spectacular assault, demonstrating the jihadists' ability to move within Malian territory, which has been torn apart by armed gangs for over a decade. This Tuesday, the jihadists interrupted their morning sleep in large numbers on motorcycles, a source reported. It was 6 a.m. when they burst into the village. « Heavy gunfire was heard, » our source added. While no claim of responsibility has been made and no official death toll has been reported, it has been learned that one person was shot dead. « The individual was returning from morning prayers, » the source explained. Regardless, the population is gripped by fear. On the Senegalese side, the rapid and prompt deployment of the Defense Forces has helped strengthen the security barrier in recent years through the construction of the Goudiry camp, inaugurated in December 2022, Military Zone No. 4, and the Rapid Action Surveillance and Intervention Group (GARSI). The Defense and Security Forces (FDS) quickly invaded the area to contain any attacks. Traffic was even blocked for several hours on this strategic route. It wasn't until around 11 a.m. that the measure was lifted, allowing traffic to resume. It's important to note that on both sides there is a village called Diboli, whose populations share everything, demonstrating that the border is simply a geographical boundary. So, if one coughs, the other sneezes. Now, with this attack, the time has come to better secure the borders to prevent any jihadist attacks. By Abdoulaye FALL / afall@ Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH
