This is a year of great promise, uncertainty

This year is seen by many as transitional. Coming after the year of protests that threatened to turn the global balance upside down, it is a period of eerie uncertainty on one hand and great promise on the other.

There are decisive elections.

China, Russia, France and the US, four out of the five United Nations Security Council veto powers, are holding their elections.

In the case of Russia, a former KGB boss is likely to win. In the case of the US where polls indicate a decline in President Obama’s popularity, a struggling economy and power issues in the global matrix will remain key concerns.

Closer home in Africa, there are a number of countries going to the polls. They include Sierra Leone, Senegal, Kenya, Angola, Madagascar and Egypt.

Zimbabwe may also choose between the status quo and change at a time when the incumbent President Robert Mugabe is reportedly unwell. If the woes of the country’s national carrier are anything to go by, this is one country that needs a lot of workto come back to its full senses.

The Senegalese, Egyptian, Angolan and Zimbabwean elections are crucial especially because of the challenges their pose, plus the interested players in the game.

In the case of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade has ignored his critics to go for another round. France has already raised a red flag, something that indicates where the election could leave the country. In my wild predictions, President Wade will win the elections, thanks to his incumbency and a divided opposition, but could end up in the drain.

There is reason to believe so.

After ascending to power in 2000, Wade cast his net wider, adding Iran and China to his list of friends, to the disappointment of the former colonial master.

Since then, the number of French cars in Dakar has gone down. Most of those still plying the city routes are faded and a sight to run away from.

Military and other lucrative pacts signed between the two countries, just like several other French colonies did at independence, have been renegotiated. The French are e not been amused, thus their warnings on the February election.

So does that Abdoulaye Wade make a saint?

Not quite, but he could be headed the Laurent Gbagbo way if he doesn’t play his cards right. In Egypt, protesters are not likely to leave the streets soon, especially if the Muslim Brotherhoods, through their party, win in the presidential polls.

Americans have been flirting with the party’s big wigs through the military whose 80 per cent of the budget is taken up by Washington.