Communication politique et séduction à travers la Déclaration de politique générale du Premier ministre Idrissa Seck à l'Assemblée nationale le 03 février 2003

2.3 The humble man

The direction of the humility on behalf of the Prime Minister is incarnated through two axes : recognition of the merit of others and what one could call the low profile of the speaker.

The Prime Minister, in his speech, endeavors to recognize and accept the merit of the others. This recognition of the merit of the other is in conformity with the ethos of man of faith virtuous and right which it prolongs and amplifies. To recognize the intrinsic merit of the other, or to accept that others played, play or will play an important part in our own success, it is, to a certain extent, to reduce our personal merit. Thus the Prime Minister thanks God for having helped it to make a success of his missions. Better, he calls upon his help to guarantee the success of his various actions :

I covet of God a bright victory in this new mission, with the image of that of which it gratifié me at the time of the first. (Seck 2003 : 5)

By asking for the support of God, for the success in the republican actions, therefore laic essentially, that it undertakes, the Prime Minister takes the risk to post the image of a fatalistic and irrational man who would not be sure relevance of his step. However, the dominating dimension of the religious fact in the company sénégalaise transforms this possible negative interpretation to support a positive reading of it. Indeed, the laic character of the Republic of Senegal badly hides the strength of the religious fact and the beliefs which go with, in particular the need for the divine blessing for the good achievement of any action.

After having recognized and having requested the divine implication for the success as of the his actions, the Prime Minister makes some in the same way for others, to start with the institution which receives its Declaration of general policy, the French National Assembly,  with which it recognizes any sound deserves and its standing:

The People, sovereign in his decisions, assigned you the mission of being the honoured medium by which I present to him humbly, today, my roadmap. (Seck 2003 : 5)

But this respect for the parliamentary institution all the more expresses a direction of the humility on behalf of the chief of the government, which it rises from a will of total tender of the Prime Minister to the sovereignty of the People, true holder of the capacity, that the members of Parliament are supposed to represent :

(Seck 2003 : 10)

In the same way, its Senegalese fellow-citizens, all confused categories, profit from its recognition. It is the case for the teachers it recognizes the merit compared to the nation, in general, and compared to itself, in particular:

Being like many others produces it teachers who, today still, remain my Masters in what I continue to inspire to me their lessons, I am particularly sensitive to the fate of those which have between their hands the future of million Senegalese. (Seck 2003 : 24)

Beyond the simple recognition of the merit of others in the success of its actions, the direction of humility justifies the call to the assistance which the Prime Minister addresses to his fellow-citizens, because it is conscious that « one will need a mobilization of all the segments of our company to increase our chances of success ». Also, even the commun run of Senegalese, represented symbolically by the character « Goorgoorlu », it is requested :

Goorgoorlu will be able to help me in the popularization of this new policy, and to say to his/her country uncle who it is difficult to work over three months to hope to have incomes on twelve. (Seck 2003 : 13)

Humility, it is also the opening to others ; the instructive exchange with the others for a greater success. From where the concern of the Prime Minister of prolonging his participative step, initiated before its Declaration of general policy, while placing itself at the disposal of the other dismemberments of the company because its « carry will be to them (...) always open » with, with the program, of the meetings for « to discuss, learn and inform » (Seck 2003 : 8).

But humility is not solely of a verbal nature. It is a also verbal and nonverbal para. On verbal the para plan, the Declaration of general policy was done on a calm tone, posed, with a slow flow as a whole.

On the nonverbal level, the concern of appearing humble is dealt with by the posture of the Prime Minister. Indeed, throughout his speech, the Chief of the Government kept a posture marking humility. It is the slightly curved back, the hands leant with the table, in front of him, which it pronounced its speech. As if he wanted « to discipline » its gestural. This one, quasi-minimalist, being satisfied to accompany the vocatives, addresses and interpellations of its audience by glances distributed sometimes on its left, sometimes on its right-hand side.

In the same way, a preoccupation with a humility can be read through the place chosen by the Prime Minister to face his audience and to pronounce its Declaration of general policy. Indeed, it chose to remain in the place reserved to the members of the Government whereas the tradition wants that the Chief of the Government moves to the platform facing in the majority of the deputies. This position would have been more favourable besides, not only with the exchanges with the elected officials of the People, but also with the People himself. Indeed, this position would have allowed a greater visibility of the speaker insofar as the visiting room is emphasized by its light withdrawal of the remainder of the hemicycle, his central character and its position raised compared to the remainder of the hemicycle. All things which would have, moreover, supported the catches of sight of the takers of sight of national television, and thus improved the image received by the televiewers. While declining the high position of the visiting room, the Chief of the Government adopts, the kind, a low posture^41(*), as a sign of simplicity and modesty. A simplicity and a modernity relayed by the feeling of sincerity conveyed.

* ⁴¹ For the concepts of position, to see Kerbrat-Orecchioni, (Orecchioni 1992 I: p. 95).