Jailed Senegalese opponent Ousmane Sonko was sworn in as a candidate for the 2024 presidential election behind closed doors at a private location on Sunday, December 31, after banning the public meeting planned for Saturday, according to an official and images from Senegalese television .
President Macky Sall also said on Sunday in his final message of the year that he would “ensure” that the presidential elections on February 25, 2024 “like previous elections, take place peacefully and under the best organizational conditions.” Elected for seven years in 2012 and re-elected for five years in 2019, he announced in July that he would not run again in 2024.
Mr Sonko's inauguration in this election took place symbolically on Sunday in the presence of around fifty people, this leader of his camp told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The opening event, originally planned for Saturday in Dakar, was banned on Friday because of the “threat of disrupting public order.”
“The application documents [de M. Sonko] was submitted to the Constitutional Council on December 12, explained lawyer Ciré Clédor Ly, his representative at court level, in a press release sent to AFP on Friday evening. The deadline for collecting sponsorships and submitting applications was December 26th.
In prison since the end of July
Mr. Sonko is the central figure in a more than two-year standoff with the state that has led to several episodes of deadly unrest. After the government refused to hand over the necessary documents to Mr. Sonko, his lawyers announced their intention to submit his candidacy to the Constitutional Council, saying they “trust the judicial system” in the face of a state that they said “trusted” “exclude.” “ from the vote.
Mr. Sonko was found guilty of debauchery of a minor on June 1 and sentenced to two years in prison. He did not appear at the trial and was sentenced in absentia. The 49-year-old opposition figure has been imprisoned since the end of July on other charges, including inciting an uprising. He describes these and the other cases in which he was involved as conspiracies aimed at disqualifying him from the presidential election.
Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers Senegal: Opponent Ousmane Sonko returns to the presidential race
In mid-December, a judge reinstated his candidacy by ordering his re-registration on the electoral rolls, upholding an October decision by the Ziguinchor (South) Court that had been overturned by the Supreme Court. The state appealed the mid-December decision.
More than 90 applications have been submitted to the Constitutional Council, which must announce the list of successful candidates on January 20th.