Senegal’s Constitutional Council Invalidates Ousmane Sonko’s Presidential Candidacy: Updates and Analysis

2024-01-05 22:03:31

The Constitutional Council of Senegal invalidated, on Friday, the candidacy of the opponent, Ousmane Sonko, for the presidential election of February 25, 2024, for incomplete file, indicated his lawyer, Me Ciré Clédor Ly.

“When we entered, President (of the Council) Badio Camara immediately notified us that (Mr. Sonko’s) file was incomplete,” Me Ciré Clédor Ly told the press.

Thursday evening, the Supreme Court confirmed the opponent’s six-month suspended prison sentence for defamation, a sentence widely seen as making him ineligible for the presidential election.

Read also: Senegal: the Supreme Court confirms the sentence of Ousmane Sonko to 6 months in prison, suspended for defamation

In another procedure, Ousmane Sonko was found guilty on June 1 of debauchery of a minor and sentenced to two years in prison. He has been imprisoned since the end of July on other charges, including calling for insurrection.

The Senegalese are called to the polls on February 25, 2024 to elect the fifth president in the country’s history, following Léopold Sédar Senghor, Abdou Diouf, Abdoulaye Wade and Macky Sall.

For the first time in the history of Senegal, the outgoing president is not a candidate for his own succession.

Macky Sall, elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2019, announced in early July that he would not seek a third term. He chose as his coalition presidential candidate the Prime Minister, Amadou Bâ.

With MAP

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