Next Sall’s government should step back and reconsider its approach. Rather than threatening the country’s hard-won democratic gains, it should de-escalate tensions and promote economic recovery. Senegal’s long march toward democracy began seven decades ago, with demands for independence from French colonial rule. The country achieved that goal following a 1960 power-transfer agreement with France, and the poet Léopold Sédar Senghor became its first president. The fight for democracy began anew in 1988, when opposition parties alleged fraud in the presidential election won by the incumbent, Abdou Diouf. In response, Diouf’s government imposed a long-lasting state of emergency, including a cumbersome curfew. But when Diouf lost the 2000 presidential election, he handed over power peacefully to his opponent, Abdoulaye Wade, in a move that solidified Senegal’s reputation as a regional bastion of political stability.