2023-05-12 20:23:36
As Senegalese President Macky Sall remains unclear regarding the possibility of running for a third term, thousands of protesters gathered in Dakar on Friday to pressure their leader and support opponent Ousmane Sonkotargeted by justice in the run-up to the presidential election of February 2024, noted AFP.
This demonstration at the call of the “Movement of the living forces of Senegal F24”, a collective of more than 170 political and rights organizations created a month ago, was authorized by the authorities.
President Macky Sall who, following several statements in which he claimed that he would not run in 2024, now casts doubt on a candidacy. His opponents believe that he is finishing his two legal terms.
Many young demonstrators also told AFP that they had come to support the opponent Ousmane Sonko, sentenced earlier this week to a six-month suspended prison sentence for defamation and insults once morest the Minister of Tourism, which might lead to his ineligibility.
Ousmane Sonko, who will also be tried on Tuesday for an alleged rape case, denounces a plot hatched by the head of state to dismiss him from the 2024 presidential race and achieve the plan attributed to him for a third term. He called on his supporters to mobilize massively on Friday but was conspicuously absent from the rally.
Obtain the release of “political detainees”
“Sonko, our hope”, “Macky Sall dictator”, chanted the demonstrators in the crowd gathered at Place de la Nation, amid the noise of vuvuzelas, whistles and horns.
Opposition officials and influential members of organizations present spoke in turn, calling on President Sall to step down and demanding the release of “political detainees”, more than 300 according to the opposition.
“We are pinning our hopes on Sonko despite the persecution. Between Macky Sall and us, it’s a story of youthful mistakes,” Babacar Touré, a trader in his forties, told AFP.
“We are all behind Sonko until death. Macky gets out, we don’t want you anymore. We are determined, today more than ever, to lead the fight once morest him”, launched Mamy Massaly, 42 years old.
Some speakers were booed by the crowd, because they were suspected of not supporting Ousmane Sonko clearly enough or of not being favorable to him. Like one of the leaders of the opposition, Khalifa Sall, who was booed for long minutes by young supporters of Ousmane Sonko.
With AFP
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