Senegal ex-president blasts government inaction despite 'emergencies'

Senegal's former president Macky Sall has accused the new administration of seven months of "catastrophic" inaction, in a letter published Wednesday, less than two weeks before elections.

Sall's candidate to take over from him after 12 years in power lost to President Bassirou Diomaye Faye in the first round of a March presidential ballot.

Faye appointed Ousmane Sonko, a former opposition leader and longtime rival of Sall, as his prime minister and they pledged radical change, social justice and efforts to fight corruption.

The pair called a snap parliamentary election for November 17 after dissolving the opposition-dominated parliament in mid-September.

Sonko, who was imprisoned for more than seven months under Sall's rule and banned from running in the presidential contest, has continued as premier to attack Sall and former leaders.

In the letter published on social media, Sall claimed to have left a country on the path to development but said that after seven months, agriculture, fishing, small businesses and construction were in a "catastrophic state".

"Rejection, populism, untruths and manipulation are the modes of governance," Sall wrote.

"The time of sterile speech has replaced the time of action useful to the population, just when emergencies are being reported everywhere," he added.

The new government presented the conclusions of a review of public finances in September, with Sonko describing the situation as "catastrophic".

He accused the former administration of manipulating the financial figures given to international partners including the International Monetary Fund, which the previous leaders deny.

Sall blamed "slanderous" assertions for unfavourable ratings of the Senegalese economy by two credit agencies.

An IMF spokesman told AFP its current aid programme was suspended pending approval of the public finances review by Senegal's Court of Auditors.