Senegal's Sall calls opposition to unite against Wade
DAKAR (AFP) - Senegal's Macky Sall on Wednesday rallied the opposition to back him in a presidential run-off and thwart incumbent Abdoulaye Wade's efforts to secure a third mandate and rule into his 90s.
A former ally of the president, Sall will take on the 85-year-old Wade in a second round of voting after emerging as the runner-up in last Sunday's tight election.
He urged failed presidential candidates, opposition movements and singer-turned-political activist Youssou Ndour to back him and "complete the process for a new democratic alternance".
The run-off will be held on either March 18 or 25, he said.
Provisional results put Wade, 85, in the lead with 34.97 percent and credited Sall with 26.21 percent, a humiliating blow to the incumbent who had promised a crushing first round victory.
As some three weeks of intense political wrangling begins, Wade is facing a limited pool of former ministers, prime ministers and political rivals to align with in his controversial bid for a third term.
Wade is seeking a new seven-year term after circumventing a two-term limit he introduced into the constitution. He says changes extending term lengths from five to seven years made in 2008 allow him a fresh mandate.
Addressing journalists, Sall, 50, praised a transparent election on Sunday and promised wide-ranging reforms if elected.
He vowed to again cut term lengths from seven to five years, saying he himself would adhere to the shorter mandate in his first term.
Sall also promised to change the way members of the constitutional council are appointed after the body's independence came under scrutiny for upholding Wade's candidacy.
This decision on January 27 sparked a month of riots which left six dead and marred the west African nation's reputation as a haven of stability.
While the body currently consists of five judges appointed by the president, Sall said he would increase the council to seven. Three would be appointed by the president, two by lawmakers and two by magistrates.
The former prime minister also promised "measures to reduce the price of basic necessities such as rice and oil".
As the two-horse race begins, the country's media examined possible strategies and alliances available to the two contenders -- former allies before a bitter falling out.
"Wheeling and dealing between two rounds," headlined Le Populaire newspaper. La Tribune played up the former links between the president and his ex-prime minister: "Master and apprentice face off".
Sall, 50, is a member of the opposition June 23 Movement (M23) against Wade's third term candidacy and its members are most likely to rally around the younger candidate.
Another former prime minister, Moustapha Niasse, came in third with 13.24 percent and has already vowed not to support the incumbent.
"The M23 message is that Wade must get out. The fundamental objective is that Wade's third term mandate does not happen," M23 co-ordinator Alioune Tine wrote in the Quotidien newspaper.
Wade has said his party "and its allies will naturally explore all the possibilities of understanding with other political forces" ahead of the run-off.
The media suggested some opposition candidates might choose to gamble on a few more years under the leadership of the ageing Wade which would give them another shot, than a possible 14 years, or two terms, under Sall.
Abdou Aziz Sow, a former minister under Wade, said the president could still dip into the large pool of voters who did not turn out on Sunday -- about 40 percent -- who may have been afraid due to pre-poll clashes.
Wade, who won in the first round in 2007 elections with 55 percent, has said he only wants three more years to finish his "grand projects" but this is widely seen as a bid to line up his unpopular son Karim to succeed him.
The younger Wade was at the centre of the storm which saw Sall -- himself once tipped as successor -- fall from grace after a meteoric rise which took him through several ministerial portfolios.
In 2008, as head of parliament, he was held responsible for Karim being summoned for questioning over the budget of the Islamic Conference organising committee headed by the president's son.