SENEGAL : PRESIDENTIAL 2024/ THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL REJECTS THE CANDIDACIES OF KARIM WADE AND OUSMANE SONKO
The dual nationality of Karim Wade continues to be a source of controversy in Senegal. Due to a lack of anticipation, the son of former President Abdoulaye Wade is not on the final list of candidates selected for the presidential election in February 2024. The same fate applies to Ousmane Sonko, the main leader of the opposition. The Constitutional Council has invalidated the applications of these two contenders for the presidential seat.
In Senegal, only 20 candidates out of approximately 70 are authorized to participate in the upcoming presidential election. This is a first in the country, despite the filter of sponsorship. Among these 20 approved candidates, the son of the former Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade and the opposition leader Ousmane Sonko are not included. Both have been excluded from the presidential race by the Constitutional Council, which declares their candidacies « inadmissible ».
As a reason for rejecting Karim Wade’s application, the institution cites the issue of « binationality ». The former minister is excluded due to not renouncing his French nationality at the time of submitting his application. It was only after this appeal was filed that the candidate provided proof of renouncing his French nationality on January 16, 2024. According to the Constitutional Council, it was too late.
The rejection of Ousmane Sonko’s candidacy, according to the Constitutional Council, is linked to his conviction in May 2023 to a 6-month suspended prison sentence for defamation in a case opposing him to the Minister of Tourism, Mame Mbaye Niang. Ousmane Sonko is « definitively sentenced to a 6-month suspended prison sentence ». And « this conviction makes him ineligible for a period of 5 years ». ruled the Constitutional Council.
On the final list published on Saturday, January 20, the name of the candidate from the ruling party, Prime Minister Amadou Bâ, is unsurprisingly present, along with former prime ministers and opposition figures Idrissa Seck and Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, former mayor of Dakar Khalifa Sall, and Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, presented as the substitute candidate for Ousmane Sonko.
Also on the list are two women, Rose Wardini, a gynecologist and civil society activist, and entrepreneur Anta Babacar Ngom. This is a first in Senegal. For some observers, this « indicates the vitality of democracy in Macky Sall’s country », who had long kept the suspense about whether he would or would not run in the presidential election on February 25, 2024.
