The Constitutional Council of Senegal on Saturday released its final list of the 20 presidential candidates predicted to participate in the West African nation’s 2024 presidential election. Notably absent from the list is leading opposition candidate Ousmane Sonko.
The list includes a successor chosen by incumbent President Macky Sall, Prime Minister Amadou Ba, as well as other former state leaders such as Idrissa Seck, Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, and the previous mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall. The list also includes strong female contenders, such as gynecologist Rose Wardini and entrepreneur Anta Babacar Ngom.
Highlighting another key absence from the list, Karim Wade, the son of one-time president Abdoulaye Wade, could not make the list due to his dual citizenship. Wade, who held both French and Senegalese citizenship at the time of filing his candidacy, has since renounced the former.
Sonko, who came third in the 2019 presidential election, was arrested on sexual assault allegations in 2019 which were later followed by a sentence of two-year imprisonment in June 2023. Both his arrest and conviction resulted in mass protests and rioting in the country, largely amongst the Senegalese youth, who resonate with his pan-Africanist message and his stance against France, Senegal’s former colonial power.
Since July, additional charges of inciting insurrections, conspiracy, and terrorism have been leveled against Sonko leading to his continuous imprisonment. Despite the charges, Sonko has maintained his innocence and has stated that these charges are part of a larger smear campaign to prevent him from running in the upcoming elections.
However, the Constitutional Council stated that Sonko was ineligible due to his previous criminal convictions according to a report by France24. The fear of civil unrest through more protests and rioting looms over the nation due to Sonko’s exclusion from the upcoming elections.
In response to these fears, President Sall announced he will not rely on a 2016 constitutional reform that would permit him to extend his term a third time; reforms similar to this have been utilized by leaders in Ivory Coast and Togo to extend their terms. Sall first came to power in 2012 for a period of seven years before being re-elected in 2019.
Senegal’s presidential election is scheduled for February 25, with the winner set to succeed President Sall.
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