Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko on Tuesday called for vengeance following what he described as attacks against supporters of his Pastef party by the opposition during the campaign for parliamentary elections.
Sonko, who has been head of the government since it took office in April, spoke of clashes in the capital Dakar, the northern city of Saint-Louis and the central town of Koungheul.
He blamed the attacks on supporters of Dakar mayor Barthelemy Dias, who heads a rival coalition and was convicted of homicide in 2011 during a period of political violence.
“Let every aggression suffered by Pastef on their part since the start of the campaign, let every patriot they have attacked and injured be proportionally avenged,” Sonko wrote in a Facebook post.
“We will exercise our legitimate right to retaliate.”
“Barthelemy Dias and his coalition should no longer campaign in this country,” he said.
Senegal is due to elect a new parliament on Sunday after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dissolved the opposition-dominated chamber in September.
The ruling Pastef party aims to secure a legislative majority to implement its promises of social justice, economic transformation and efforts to fight against corruption.
In a video published by a local TV station showing a rally on Monday, Sonko said he had “called the interior and justice ministers as a candidate” at the start of the campaign.
“Three attacks, zero arrests. It’s the bankruptcy of the state,” Sonko said.
He was speaking after the incidents in Saint-Louis, where he accused opposition supporters of having “violently attacked and injured” Pastef backers with “knives, sabres and tear gas grenades”.
“I once again call on the state of Senegal. A state must not be weak. I have called on the president of the republic several times,” Sonko said.
“If the state does not resolve this problem, we will do it ourselves and we have the means to do so.”
A meeting of Pastef party supporters is scheduled for later Tuesday near Dias’s home, a Pastef official told AFP.
‘Climate of terror’
Dias’s coalition, Samm Sa Kaddu, denounced on social media a “call to murder made by the current prime minister of Senegal”.
It said that it had itself been targeted by “multiple attacks” during the campaign.
“Ousmane Sonko, consumed by the fear of defeat, is desperately trying to muzzle democracy by attempting to create a climate of terror,” it added.
“The Samm Sa Kaddu coalition holds Ousmane Sonko responsible for anything that might happen to its members, activists, supporters and voters,” it said.
At the end of last month, Faye called for those involved in the election to show “responsibility, restraint and moderation”.
But the campaign has been marred by violence.
The day after campaigning began, unknown assailants attacked the Dakar headquarters of an opposition party, targeting vehicles, smashing windows and starting a fire, local media reported.
Clashes broke out between opposition and government supporters in Koungheul on October 30, as Sonko’s election convoy was campaigning.