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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Senegal Elections Preview (TVR)
HEADLINE: Senegal Readies for Long-Awaited Presidential Elections
TEASER: This comes after the departing president Macky Sall attempted to postpone the elections but was unsuccessful
PUBLISHED AT: 3/22/24, 12:35 pm
BYLINE: Mariama Diallo
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: DAKAR, SENEGAL
VIDEOGRAPHER: Moussa Thioune
PRODUCER: Moussa Thioune
SCRIPT EDITORS: Steve Hirsch, wpm
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA original & wires
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 4:03
VID APPROVED BY: sb
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: Note that French to Africa needs the pkg for their 2 p.m. show, D.C. time, which I’ll be part of so hopefully we can get it produced in time. MDC))
((INTRO)) [[Senegalese say they are ready to turn the page and are excited to go to the polls Sunday to elect their next leader. This comes after weeks of debate and political crisis as outgoing president Macky Sall attempted to postpone the February 25 elections by 10 months but was unsuccessful after the constitutional council overruled his decision. VOA Nairobi Bureau Chief Mariama Diallo is in Dakar and has this story.]]
((NARRATOR)) ((gen Dakar streets with election billboards))
In the streets of Dakar, billboards of various candidates are scattered throughout the city as the population gets ready to go to the polls Sunday to elect the next leader of Senegal. Some have their favorites, but others say they just want someone who would unite and advance the West African nation.
((VOX POPs))
((For radio: let’s listen to Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Dia, Sokhna Mbaye and Ibrahima Ndiaye))
((Cheikh A. Tidiane Dia - Student)) ((in Wolof, male)) ((INTW 4& 5 - TC: 1:38))
“I’ll be voting for Aliou Mamadou Dia because // he’s worked for UNDP [the United Nations Development Program] and has 20 years of development related experience. With that, I think he should be able to change the country.”
((Sokhna Nata Mbaye, Senegalese Citizen)) ((in French, female)) ((INTW 4& 5 - TC: 4:53))
“I will be voting for Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye because he has the best profile for Senegal; he can take the country far. And he could improve our living conditions.”
((Ibrahima Ndiaye)) ((in French, male)) ((INTW 6 - TC: 00:40))
“I am voting for change, for development in Senegal //and a better way to govern.”
((NARRATOR)) ((Gen Street, macky sall, campaigning Amadou Ba, ((Babacar setup))
Senegal has always been seen as a beacon of democracy in a region plagued by coups until recently when the country’s outgoing president, Macky Sall, tried unsuccessfully to postpone the February elections by 10 months. While Sall had said he would not seek a third term, his critics accused him of wanting to hold on to power.
((For radio: Babacar Ndiaye is a political analyst))
((Babacar Ndiaye - Political Analyst)) ((in French, male)) ((INTW 8 - TC: 1:36))
“It’s true that when President Sall took that decision on February 3rd, it was surprising. We were a few hours before the electoral campaign was to officially kick off // that decision completely derailed the electoral process and caused the country to hold elections during the Ramadan fasting month and reduce the campaign time that candidates would’ve had to explain their various programs.”
((NARRATOR)) ((gen street scenes with candidates’ billboards or video of them campaigning))
About 19 candidates are vying for the top job, including former Prime Minister Amadou Ba who is endorsed by Sall.
((For radio: Momadou Bamba Ndiaye is with Ba’s communication team))
((Mamadou Bamba Ndiaye - Amadou Ba’s Campaign Team )) ((in French, male)) ((INTW 7 - TC: 3:15))
“As he’s said himself, he hopes to go faster, further, and hopefully do better. President Macky Sall has said that nobody is perfect. While Sall thinks he has a positive assessment [during his two terms], he’s also said there is room for improvement.”
((NARRATOR)) ((gen Diomaye campaigning or billboards))
Other candidates include Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a former tax inspector. He is backed by Ousmane Sonko - who was seen as the key challenger to Sall but has been barred from running in this year’s elections over a previous defamation conviction. Both Faye and Sonko were recently released from prison.
((For radio: Moustapha Sarre (pronounced Sareh) is with the Bassirou Diomaye Faye coalition campaign team))
((Moustapha Sarre - Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s Campaign )) ((in French, male)) ((ITW 3 - TC: 1:09))
“Compared to other candidates, we started our campaign a week late, but the Senegalese population was waiting for our candidate, Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, and you’ve seen the crowds his liberation from prison had attracted and the fever the campaign caravan stops by him and Sonko are creating // we think we can win this election in the first round.”
((NARRATOR)) ((Gningue setup))
Djibril Gningue is the executive director of Pacte, a civil society group working for election transparency.
((Djibril Gningue – Election Transparency Advocate) ((in French, male)) ((ITW 1 - TC: 13:00))
“We are calling on the Interior Ministry to take all the useful tools to make sure the elections, which constitute a big phase for Senegal’s present and future, are well monitored and that it takes place in a peaceful and calm environment and that the polls are honest, transparent and just.”
((NARRATOR)) ((gen Dakar streets scenes)) ((maybe stand up))
That way he says, there won’t be any challenges and hopefully Senegal will be back on track to being the stable democratic country it’s been over many decades.
((MARIAMA DIALLO VOANEWS DAKAR, SENEGAL))
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