Presentation of the Pastef Party
Historical
The PASTEF les patriotes party was founded in January 2014 by young executives from the Senegalese public administration, the private sector, the liberal professions, teaching circles and businessmen who, for the most part, have never politics. PASTEF is a legitimate aspiration of an entire people, crystallized by a generation deeply convinced of the seriousness of the situation.
The initiative committee which was at the basis of the creation of what we call in spite of ourselves a party, since we still consider it as a dynamic, is made up of people who shared youth struggles.
From school to the office, via university, they fought battles with love and enthusiasm that ended in resounding success. From the formal authorization to build a place of worship within the Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis to the glorious conquest of the right to have a union in senior administration, determination has always determined their actions.
Those who join the initial group present more or less similar profiles. They never belonged to a political party, they hated it. The trigger was the act taken by the person who was surprised to learn that his friends wanted to create a political group.
Ousmane Sonko will become the president of PASTEF-LES PATRIOTES, he who had been thinking for some time about a possible political commitment without deciding on the form it should take; which led him to meet leaders to better base his decision. He was far from imagining that his return from pilgrimage would be the start of a new life as full as the few days he spent in the holy places of Islam.
Complete strangers, the founders became, through the force of their arguments, political actors who arouse hope.
Meaning
It is created in Senegal, in accordance with the constitutional, legal and regulatory provisions in force, a political party called African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity, PASTEF-LES PATRIOTES for short.
Fundamental Principles
The PASTEF-LES PATRIOTES party has the motto: “the gift of oneself for the Fatherland”. Its colors are red and green. The Party’s emblem is represented by a red loop surrounded by green, inside which appears the letter “P” in capital letters and in white stamped with the head of a white leopard with black spots. The acronym PASTEF-LES PATRIOTES is written, in green, starting from the “P” of the loop and separated by a thin horizontal red line from the words Patriotes du Sénégal in red at the bottom of the acronym.
NB: In certain Bantu tribes and particularly in Congo-Kinshasa, the leopard was considered a cunning, powerful and resistant animal.
PASTEF-LES PATRIOTES is founded to conquer political power through democratic means, in order to put at the service of the Senegalese people the economic and social program which will make Senegal a prosperous, united nation anchored in strong values.
PASTEF-LES PATRIOTES, adheres without reservation to the essential principles and values of the Republic of Senegal, as defined by the Constitution, in force, that the Senegalese people freely chose.
The Party undertakes to respect and defend the Constitution, to respect laws and regulations, as well as to work for the strengthening of national unity as well as the consolidation of Senegalese democracy.
PASTEF-LES PATRIOTES, strives to promote a pragmatic doctrine, which is not confused with any of the historically recognized ideologies: socialism, communism, liberalism, etc.
The only cause that the Party intends to defend is the interest of the Senegalese people, which interest lies in the compromise between:
- the freedom of citizens, both in their private life and in their professional activity, in their intimate convictions and in their public expression;
- respect by everyone for public order guaranteeing social cohesion and the development of all;
- recognition of the primordial role of the State in economic development and social, in the consolidation of the Senegalese Nation, in the maintenance of peace and security, as well as in the influence of Senegal throughout the world.
PASTEF-LES PATRIOTES does not exclude working with any public or private, political or civil society organization, whatever its official ideology, subject to the three reservations:
• total convergence from the point of view of values; compliance with the laws and regulations of Senegal; of exclusive benefit for the Senegalese people.
PASTEF advocates the need to find new paths to economic and social development because for more than 50 years, regardless of the governments in place, public policies have followed the same patterns, with the same strong dependence-submission to the outside world. These schemes have largely proven their ineffectiveness, even their harmful nature, and it will take political courage to break with them and invent new economic and social governance.
To achieve this, we need to make a systemic break, which differs from a simple operation of changing leaders through the mechanism of alternation: what is needed in Senegal is rather a real alternative.
PASTEF is a new political offer which is based on four fundamental pillars: Patriotism, Work, Ethics and Fraternity.