Senegal Premier Fired; Woman Named

Senegal’s president on Saturday fired the prime minister, replacing him with the country’s first female premier.

Prime Minister Niasse Moustapha was removed from his post after his party “acted against the interests of the governing coalition and the people of Senegal,” said a government communique read on local radio stations.

The statement did not elaborate, but it was believed to refer to a decision by Moustapha’s Alliance of Progressive Forces party last month to ally itself with a candidate of the former ruling Socialist Party in a mayoral by-election.

President Abdoulaye Wade, whose election last year ended four decades of Socialist Party rule, also dissolved the country’s Cabinet.

Moustapha’s successor, Justice Minister Mame Madior Boye, is Senegal’s first female prime minister and one of just a handful ever to hold such a senior position in Africa.

Though she is believed to hold little real political clout, Madior Boye said in a radio interview that her appointment showed that Wade “has a lot of confidence in women.”

A lawyer and independent politician widely respected among her Senegalese peers, Madior Boye said her first major task would be to help Wade chose a new Cabinet.

Most members are expected to retain their posts, although the four ministers from Moustapha’s party are expected to be dropped.

The shuffle heightens political uncertainty in the West African nation. Wade dissolved parliament--still dominated by the Socialists--last month and declared an April 29 national ballot to elect a new legislature.

The April vote for 120 seats is expected to come down to a three-way contest between the Socialists, led by former President Abdou Diouf, Wade’s Senegalese Democratic Party and Moustapha’s Alliance of Progressive Forces.